Players tricked into a Verdant pact.

[Qc Storm]

I am the DM of a campaign. In this campaign, my players made a deal with a Verdant Prince, disguised as a druid.

"Bring me the heart of the dragon of Greatrock. If you accept, I shall gift you this deck of many things."

Sure enough, they accepted. But Verdant Princes love nothing more than tricking people into very bad deals.

Long story short, they sought Greatrock, which is a nearby kingdom. Asking around, they found out the Dragon of Greatrock happened to be king. After organizing a meeting with said king (and preparations for an assassination), they found out he was actually a very normal human, with not a drop of dragon in his blood. Nicknamed "The Dragon" by his people for his health and cunning.

Worst case is, he is a good king, much better than his father was. Killing him would bring doom upon Greatrock, who needs great leadership to face the demon onslaught. My players are not aware of this, but they do not want to kill him because he is a king, and is a good person.

On the other hand, they don't want to break the deal they have made with the "druid", because he respected his end of the bargain. What they also do not know, is that breaking the deal would bring a great curse upon them (permanent Sickened, -6 to all ability scores).

They are a bit stumped right now.

What would YOU do in their place?

[Fyermind]

Well that was a nasty place you put them in. I'd start looking into ways to remove curses if I knew I was cursed, but mostly I'd wait for the DM to realize he screwed us and start producing solutions.

[kreenlover]

depends on my character. most of the time my character would go back to the druid, and try to re-negotiate a deal, or, better yet, go back and kill the obviously evil druid.
Other characters would just kill the king, tear out his heart, and trade it for the useless deck of many things

[Callin]

Depends on what I was playing but usually it would be break the deal and try to get the curse removed.

[Namfuak]

I wouldn't have taken the deal in the first place. Failing that, if I were a chaotic neutral/evil character I'd probably just kill the king since I don't care about him, if I were good I would go to kill the druid, if I were some other alignment not mentioned I'd probably do whatever seemed the most logical. Alternatively, depending on how OOC annoyed I was that you were putting us in such an untenable situation, I would use some money to buy a scroll of PaO and turn a skin cell into the heart of the Dragon of Greatrock, then give that to the druid. He never said kill the king, he just said bring him his heart.

[dragonsamurai77]

I would convince the king to come with me, or kidnap him if need be, and bring him, alive, to the Verdant Prince. That is, technically, bringing his heart to the Prince, since it isn't specified that the heart must be removed from the body.

[Icewraith]

Deck of many things is a campaign-killer. Why your players thought this was a good deal I don't know.

Edit: Win post above mine.

[tyckspoon]

Find another (preferably evil and thus a worthy and valid target for a 'he needed killing' claim) dragon that lives in Greatrock. Kill it and bring the druid its heart. It's the druid's problem if he didn't adequately specify which 'Dragon' he wanted dead.

[Eurus]

Hah. Yeah, if they want to be smug about it they could try and get the (living) king to go visit the Prince -- along with his elite guard, or something. Otherwise, if they just tell the king what happened and maybe volunteer to go kill the evil fae, he'd probably be willing to hook them up with a spellcaster who can break the curse.

[Rusher]

Return to the Verdant Prince with the King's heart.
Also bring along the hearts of his entire army, royal wizards and priests etc...

Of course, they are all alive an well and eager to crush this threat to the kingdom.

The goal is bring him the king's heart. He didn't say the heart had to be removed from his chest.

[Skysaber]

Since the pact giver played fast and loose with his definitions, ie sending us after a 'dragon' that is not a dragon, I would do the same and return to give him a 'heart' that is not a heart.

Get a little girl to cut a valentine for the king out of construction paper, then return with that to your 'druid.'

[Urpriest]

I would convince the king to come with me, or kidnap him if need be, and bring him, alive, to the Verdant Prince. That is, technically, bringing his heart to the Prince, since it isn't specified that the heart must be removed from the body.

Actually, we can extend this for more genre-appropriate fey-trolling. Bring the Verdant Prince a love letter from the king. If the "dragon" in the mission was metaphorical, the "heart" can be too.

[Randomguy]

I'd cheat the deal via technicalities. Buy a wyvern egg, hatch it somewhere in Greatrock, and kill it and take the heart. Wyverns are dragons, so unless the deal was really specific it should count.

Alternatively, if the deal didn't specify a time limit and the party has a long lived member like an elf, the party elf could just wait until the king is about to die of old age and kill him moments before. The downside to this version is that they won't get a deck of many things until the campaign's over.

The only other thing I can think of is to kill him, remove the heart and then raise him from the dead.

[soveliss24]

Urpriest's idea is, as usual, quite elegant. I also like the paper-heart idea quite a bit. As for waiting until the king is dead/nearly dead anyway, I don't think they actually have to wait for the Deck. I was under the impression he gave it to them when they agreed to the deal, so they can wait as long as they want as long as they intend to fulfill the bargain eventually.

[Vknight]

Ideas

Bring the kings 'heart' his wife to the Prince. Tell the king your taking her to safety from a secret whatever thing that will only plague were his 'heart' lies
Similar thing could be done with the kings child.

That or
Find a dragon type creature in the nation and kill it
Take its heart

Find a Dragon type creature and take its 'heart' and bring the Prince a dragon most prized possession watch fireworks

Bring him the Dragons Heart a gem you got crafted from a ruby into the shape of a heart

[Jeff the Green]

I think this is actually pretty easy. The king's rich, right?

Well, the Verdant Prince can only make one oathbond at a time, so the penalties will only affect the character who did the accepting, and it will be broken on death of either party. That character commits suicide. The king then pays the 26,530 GP for a true resurrection spell (or the 5250 for a raise dead, and then gives the character who sacrificed a level some boon). The oathbond is rendered null and void.

[ahenobarbi]

Deal was spoken, not written, right? Gift a hart to the king. Then steal it and give it to the quest-giver.

[ahenobarbi]

I think this is actually pretty easy. The king's rich, right?

Well, the Verdant Prince can only make one oathbond at a time, so the penalties will only affect the character who did the accepting, and it will be broken on death of either party. That character commits suicide. The king then pays the 26,530 GP for a true resurrection spell (or the 5250 for a raise dead, and then gives the character who sacrificed a level some boon). The oathbond is rendered null and void.

I don't think king would accept that plan "Ah, you accepted quest to kill me? Here, have 26530 gp and leave me alone." Also Revivify (Spell Compendium) will raise dead without level loss in price of Raise Dead (but you have to cast it a few rounds after death).

[Tar Palantir]

I think this is actually pretty easy. The king's rich, right?

Well, the Verdant Prince can only make one oathbond at a time, so the penalties will only affect the character who did the accepting, and it will be broken on death of either party. That character commits suicide. The king then pays the 26,530 GP for a true resurrection spell (or the 5250 for a raise dead, and then gives the character who sacrificed a level some boon). The oathbond is rendered null and void.

Even easier if you're planning on doing it: revivify brings them back with no level lost and only costs 1000 gp. The only catch is you have to cast it within 1 round of their death, trivial if that death is orchestrated.

EDIT: swordsage'd on revivify

[Jeff the Green]

I don't think king would accept that plan "Ah, you accepted quest to kill me? Here, have 26530 gp and leave me alone." Also Revivify (Spell Compendium) will raise dead without level loss in price of Raise Dead (but you have to cast it a few rounds after death).

Well, if they explain it ("We thought you were an evil fire-breathing dragon."), he'd be more sympathetic.

What level are your party? If they could conceivably beat the VP, have them break the deal (possibly by saying something like "I have no intention of following through on our deal") somewhere devoid of trees. The VP instantly knows that he's broken the oath and the direction to them and will seek them out to punish them further. Then, when he arrives, slit the throat of the oath breaker and cast revivify. Then take down the VP.

You could probably convince the king to help with that, since he's sure to want anyone offering rewards for his heart dead.

[Callin]

Have the King purpusly fail his fort saves vs Clutch of Orcus. Then once he dies and have his heart in your hand cast Revivify. Let the King draw from the DoMT as a reward :smalltongue:

[Qc Storm]

I would convince the king to come with me, or kidnap him if need be, and bring him, alive, to the Verdant Prince. That is, technically, bringing his heart to the Prince, since it isn't specified that the heart must be removed from the body.


Return to the Verdant Prince with the King's heart.
Also bring along the hearts of his entire army, royal wizards and priests etc...

Of course, they are all alive an well and eager to crush this threat to the kingdom.



Actually, we can extend this for more genre-appropriate fey-trolling. Bring the Verdant Prince a love letter from the king. If the "dragon" in the mission was metaphorical, the "heart" can be too.


Bring the kings 'heart' his wife to the Prince. Tell the king your taking her to safety from a secret whatever thing that will only plague were his 'heart' lies
Similar thing could be done with the kings child.

You guys are catching on. The "heart" in the deal is an obvious flaw I left to give them a chance. It is open to metaphorical interpretation, much like what they got tricked with.

It's more fun than "kill him and bring me his lifeless corpse so I can destroy it and prevent further resurrection".

To be honest, bringing the King's wife/children was my main solution. But you guys have found some interesting alternatives.

The hart in particular is hilarious, but considering they are not native english speakers, unlikely.


Find another (preferably evil and thus a worthy and valid target for a 'he needed killing' claim) dragon that lives in Greatrock. Kill it and bring the druid its heart. It's the druid's problem if he didn't adequately specify which 'Dragon' he wanted dead.

Players discussed about it a bit. It was agreed that it would not work, due to the wording. A dragon from Greatrock is not the same as the Dragon of Greatrock, the nickname of an influential king. It would only really work if the Wyvern somehow managed to become well-known enough to replace the king as the "dragon of Greatrock".


Deck of many things is a campaign-killer. Why your players thought this was a good deal I don't know.

Greedy adventurers. 2 died.


Depends on what I was playing but usually it would be break the deal and try to get the curse removed.

That curse can only be removed through a Wish or Miracle.


Alternatively, if the deal didn't specify a time limit and the party has a long lived member like an elf, the party elf could just wait until the king is about to die of old age and kill him moments before. The downside to this version is that they won't get a deck of many things until the campaign's over.

There is a time limit of 2 months. 2 weeks remain.

[ngilop]

there has to be a dragon somewhere in the entire kingdom of greatrock. The deal was to bring the heart of the dragon of greatrock, no the heart of a human king nicknamed the dragon.

that being said. putting a almost noway out darn if you do darned if you don't decision to your players is in my opinion extremely crappy.

also there is the whole bring the alive king to the verdant prince..

I would depending on what I knew OOC about the place you put my character in, would just say " well the game was fun. call me when you guys start a new campaign" Then take my leave from your place of residence.

[Jeff the Green]

The hart in particular is hilarious, but considering they are not native english speakers, unlikely.

Are they playing in English? If not, what language?

[Qc Storm]

Are they playing in English? If not, what language?

We play in French. Well, Quebec. So it's more like an unholy mix of English and French.

Most NPC interaction is done in English.

[CyberThread]

verdant thingy, is it some sort of actual Mechanical stuff, or just a Dm created thing?

[3WhiteFox3]

Have the king introduce a law that says that anyone who calls him by the name "The Dragon of Greatrock" will be immediately executed, that it is no longer his title or nickname (officially or otherwise) and that his new title is "The Screw-You Verdant Prince of Greatrock". Now, since there is no "The Dragon of Greatrock" the party isn't locked into killing him.

Even better, have the law take place retroactively, so there never was a "The Dragon of Greatrock". Or make someone else "The Dragon of Greatrock" (preferrably someone who the party is not opposed to killing.

[Qc Storm]

verdant thingy, is it some sort of actual Mechanical stuff, or just a Dm created thing?

Verdant Princes are forest Feys who also happen to be *******s.

They can make a pact with someone called an Oath Bond. Once that is done, both parties are bound to deliver their end of the bargain. If one side fails to deliver, they are struck by the curse and the opposite side knows of their general location.

They enjoy tricking people into making bad deals.

In this case however, I handwaved the "One creature only" into the entire party. They all agreed to the deal collectively.

Also they are from MM4.

[Gildedragon]

isn't choir the homophonic with heart in french.
if so that's another option.
Get the king to sponsor a choir, take them on tour.

Note that they have to bring, not give, the "heart" so a "hey look here it is" is enough.

[Grinner]

This scenario will work out in one of two ways. Either your players will give up and hate you, or you all will be talking about this years down the road.


that being said. putting a almost noway out darn if you do darned if you don't decision to your players is in my opinion extremely crappy.

...

I would depending on what I knew OOC about the place you put my character in, would just say " well the game was fun. call me when you guys start a new campaign" Then take my leave from your place of residence.

Don't be such a spoilsport. Half of the fairy tales I've read involve heroes making dangerous pacts, and then trying to worm their way out when they realize what they've agreed to. If you're not willing to put in the effort, then your character won't ever be very heroic.

[Qc Storm]

This scenario will work out in one of two ways. Either your players will give up and hate you, or you all will be talking about this years down the road.



Don't be such a spoilsport. Half of the fairy tales I've read involve heroes making dangerous pacts, and then trying to worm their way out when they realize what they've agreed to. If you're not willing to put in the effort, then your character won't ever be very heroic.

Thank you for understanding.

More bits of info :

The players obviously asked the prince more intel about this dragon. The reason why he wants this "Dragon" dead, is that he regularly sends minions to destroy his forest. Asked how old, or what color the dragon was, he replied he did not know, for he never saw the Dragon personally. However, he had to be fairly old for he held a great influence over the area.

[Renen]

Ima go with using the metaphorical heart.

Ask the king for some object that would be considered his "heart"
Hell, ask him to draw you a heart on a piece of paper...

It's a king's heart, since he drew it, all ownership and copyright belongs to him

[Icewraith]

This is probably a bit too high level, but could you clone the king?

Also, ambushing the king, ripping his heart out, and then casting regeneration on him (or vice versa) might work, if you don't think he'll accept the rez from revivify. You might also try finding a mirror of opposition.

Playing the metaphorical angle will probably work better though.

[Steward]

I feel like there are a quite a few ways for the players to get out of this, and I would be surprised one or two of these ideas showed here (a metaphorical "heart" representing something that the King claims, a drawing or other icon of a heart associated with the king, or simply bringing the King to the Verdant Prince) will be used by the actual party.

I honestly don't think that the solutions that involved mutilating or killing the King would work though. I mean, they would work RAW but the King would have to be pretty damn trusting to just let people who admitted that they came to their kingdom to assassinate him strap him down and carve out his heart, with the dubious promise that the party will cast revivify or regenerate (would that even work after he's already dead?!) on him.

It makes sense in a pure thought experiment arena but I can't imagine an actual character actually agreeing to something so obviously risky from a bunch of strangers, especially if the character is supposed to be so smart/cunning that everyone compares him to an actual Dragon.

[soveliss24]

Have the king introduce a law that says that anyone who calls him by the name "The Dragon of Greatrock" will be immediately executed, that it is no longer his title or nickname (officially or otherwise) and that his new title is "The Screw-You Verdant Prince of Greatrock". Now, since there is no "The Dragon of Greatrock" the party isn't locked into killing him.

Even better, have the law take place retroactively, so there never was a "The Dragon of Greatrock". Or make someone else "The Dragon of Greatrock" (preferrably someone who the party is not opposed to killing.

"Or make someone else "The Dragon of Greatrock" (preferrably someone who the party is not opposed to killing." Like the Verdant Prince? :smallbiggrin:

[Marnath]

Depending on how powerful the party is they could just go back and kill him. Verdant Princes have really nice defenses but they can't really do much in a fight, aside from some 1/day spell-likes all they can really do is hit you with a staff.

[Qc Storm]

Depending on how powerful the party is they could just go back and kill him. Verdant Princes have really nice defenses but they can't really do much in a fight, aside from some 1/day spell-likes all they can really do is hit you with a staff.

Attacking the other party is, I suppose, breaking the bargain.

The Verdant Prince isn't very strong, but fighting him while Sickened and a -6 penalty to all abilities isn't so easy. Plus, that is all assuming he is alone.

Manipulative villains such as him usually have bruisers under them for dirty work.

[zlefin]

I just figured out how to use the deck of many things:
Step 1 Be evil.
Step 2 round up a bunch of nobodies, level 1 commoners and such; if you want to cut down on repercussions use condemned criminals.
Step 3 Force them to draw from the deck of many things (on threat of death or torture, and maybe some reward if they draw well)
Step 4 Take all (or most) of any valuables they get. Put conditions in place to limit their ability to cause trouble if they get a threatening card; about the only card that could threaten other people of a decent level would be the one that grants wishes; so silence them after they've announced how many they will draw.


Hmm, now i'm thinking of a chaotic evillish place that uses a deck of many things for its justice system; you have to draw 3-5 cards; and any moneys you get are forfeit; if you die, it's the death penalty, if you live, you're lucky you get to live!

[Spuddles]

Since the pact giver played fast and loose with his definitions, ie sending us after a 'dragon' that is not a dragon, I would do the same and return to give him a 'heart' that is not a heart.

Get a little girl to cut a valentine for the king out of construction paper, then return with that to your 'druid.'

This is the right answer.

[Jeff the Green]

Attacking the other party is, I suppose, breaking the bargain.

The Verdant Prince isn't very strong, but fighting him while Sickened and a -6 penalty to all abilities isn't so easy. Plus, that is all assuming he is alone.

Manipulative villains such as him usually have bruisers under them for dirty work.

Read the description of the Oath Bond again. It only affects one creature, whom you can kill and revivify the first round to end the curse.

[Qc Storm]

I just figured out how to use the deck of many things:
Step 1 Be evil.
Step 2 round up a bunch of nobodies, level 1 commoners and such; if you want to cut down on repercussions use condemned criminals.
Step 3 Force them to draw from the deck of many things (on threat of death or torture, and maybe some reward if they draw well)
Step 4 Take all (or most) of any valuables they get. Put conditions in place to limit their ability to cause trouble if they get a threatening card; about the only card that could threaten other people of a decent level would be the one that grants wishes; so silence them after they've announced how many they will draw.


Hmm, now i'm thinking of a chaotic evillish place that uses a deck of many things for its justice system; you have to draw 3-5 cards; and any moneys you get are forfeit; if you die, it's the death penalty, if you live, you're lucky you get to live!

This deck used to be owned by demons. I will use this.


Read the description of the Oath Bond again. It only affects one creature, whom you can kill and revivify the first round to end the curse.


In this case however, I handwaved the "One creature only" into the entire party. They all agreed to the deal collectively.

[Renen]

Just go with the whole valentine thing. Long as the king makes it :-)