Barfight in the Warped Brew Tavern! (Abomination Vaults spoilers)

[Baron Ulfhamr]

We resume our game this tomorrow with my party of 5 (level 6 consisting of an investigator, witch, summoner, rogue, and gunslinger) intent on going in guns blazin' into a bar filled with monsters. The logic, as explained to me, is "we'll have to fight them all at some point anyway, might as well get the jump on 'em". They have "recruited" a surly skulk NPC, promising him the fight he craves with the tavern manager, but his allegiance to their cause is flimsy at best.

The text implies the band (of monsters which is playing at the time they enter) should flee if violence breaks out and that the manager will take a few rounds to join the fray, but I dunno... I kinda don't wanna make it so easy for them to just go in and mow 'em down in little chunks. As I've estimated their odds based on the encounter difficulty tables, taking on everyone at once would be an Extreme challenge, and I'm thinking of having the skulk hold out and fight the manager 1v1 anyway.

What do you all think? how would you run it?

(note: should things go TPK, they have alternate characters waiting in a nearby lab on the same level that could possibly join to mount a rescue...maybe)

[Errenor]

The band are interesting NPCs, negotiation-capable, and you can show them later in the campaign. Probably not even evil, so 'monsters' doesn't seem deserved (I don't know precisely, because I'm not the GM). We rather like them as players. So maybe total massacre isn't needed? :)

[Baron Ulfhamr]

Errenor wrote:

The band are interesting NPCs, negotiation-capable, and you can show them later in the campaign. Probably not even evil, so 'monsters' doesn't seem deserved (I don't know precisely, because I'm not the GM). We rather like them as players. So maybe total massacre isn't needed? :)

I could only hope, but if they go for chaos, I'll give it to 'em. Annoyingly, it's mainly one player driving this bus, another who just wants to play and will be content either way, and 3 more passive RPers

[Errenor]

Baron Ulfhamr wrote:

Errenor wrote:

The band are interesting NPCs, negotiation-capable, and you can show them later in the campaign. Probably not even evil, so 'monsters' doesn't seem deserved (I don't know precisely, because I'm not the GM). We rather like them as players. So maybe total massacre isn't needed? :)

I could only hope, but if they go for chaos, I'll give it to 'em. Annoyingly, it's mainly one player driving this bus, another who just wants to play and will be content either way, and 3 more passive RPers

But it's exactly RPs who should think about things like 'Is it acceptable for our characters to kill everyone they meet?' Sounds strange.

Well, it's true that if they set their minds it's not a much you can do. But the band can still leave the stage. Though in our case they left because our PCs convinced them. And we didn't know about a tavern, it was a surprise, and rather funny. We didn't even want to fight anyone there until we found out about

spoiler:

the prisoners

...

[Baron Ulfhamr]

They found out about THAT only afterward, but one player (a passive, less experienced RPer) destroyed the band's instruments in the midst of the challenge which started the fight. Quite a mess.

[Errenor]

Baron Ulfhamr wrote:

They found out about THAT only afterward

I suspect our GM saw we didn't want to fight anyone (we even talked more or less nicely with the manager) and forced issue a bit: we

spoiler:

heard a moan from the backroom.

And then everything went sideways rather quickly :)

Baron Ulfhamr wrote:

but one player (a passive, less experienced RPer) destroyed the band's instruments in the midst of the challenge which started the fight. Quite a mess.

Oh. ohohoh. :-D I guess it was fate.

I even forgot about the challenge (we passed).