Help me find a way to patch things up

[Kalmageddon]

I'm currently running a Pathfinder campaign in an homebrewed generic fantasy setting, but I've run into some trouble.

Basically, the party got hugely sidetracked and since I let them have a lot of freedom they ended up on the losing side of a battle and the consequent siege of a city, an event that was supposed to be just on the background since the PCs are all too low level to make a real difference and they actually all had other more pressing matters to attend to.
As if this wasn't enough they got into a lenghty fight against a Bralani without any means to overcome his damage reduction. They retreated after almost 20 rounds of combat during which they did a total of 8 damage.

So basically now the PCs are in a small fleet of civilian ships, retreating from the island where the battle took place, they have lost all their mercenaries, gained nothing and got their ass kicked.
Of course now they can just go on with their adventures, but I'd like to give them some kind of compensation for the hard and unrewarding sessions they had to endure, to at least make it worth their while.
Problem is, the ships are loaded with civilians, poor and without any means to compensate the PCs and since this whole business was completely their idea and the battle was lost anyway there is no-one that may want to reward them for trying.
And I don't want to be too obvious in making them find some kind of reward or treasure because then they would know that I'm just giving them something they didn't worked for or deserved for IC actions.

I'd like to hear some suggestion as to how to make them find something valuable without it being too suspicious, so they can have an up side to this whole business and feel like they actually accomplished something somehow.
Any ideas?

[Flickerdart]

The caravan of refugees comes under attack by pirates, and the PCs are press-ganged into fighting them off as amends for screwing everything up. Fortunately, the pirate ships are loaded with the booty they got from their last raid, so should they manage to triumph, they will be handsomely compensated.

[chrisgray86]

Could do some sort of god or dragon intervention. have a silver dragon step in and say I saw what you did standing up for the local people even though you stood no chance and have the dragon give them either weapons or armor specific to their character (within reason) to help them in the future. that way its not a total loss. Maybe a god in human form watched their good deeds and wanted to reward them

[AWiz_Abroad]

Well, something that worked in my campaign when things went bad. I gave them a contact that would later turn into a patron who seeing the struggles of the PCs against forces far greater than them, and recognizing their spirit, started equipping and financing expeditions with them, training them up to do X (in case my players are reading).

This allows you to have a story based reason for some gear acquisitions, as well as a way to dispense quests.

If you want to stand the trope on it's head, the patron is actually a BBEG who is utilizing the PCs as a distractor for his enemies while he enacts his fiendish plan. If you're subtle about it, you can eventually allow your party to rise up and lay waste to their employer, and who doesn't like that (on occasion).

[NM020110]

Warning: my style is off from what many consider to be standard.


The PCs seem to already have their reward, though whether they realize it or not is up to them. They appear to be in a position of leadership over a smallish group of civilians. If they cultivate that, they have the beginnings of a kingdom...

[Arundel]

The caravan of refugees comes under attack by pirates, and the PCs are press-ganged into fighting them off as amends for screwing everything up. Fortunately, the pirate ships are loaded with the booty they got from their last raid, so should they manage to triumph, they will be handsomely compensated.

Or let them find a treasure map with the pirates, and use that as a plot hook for a short but lighthearted adventure and reward them with a treasure at the end. Maybe even give it a Bob the Goldfish style boss fight

[Kalmageddon]

Warning: my style is off from what many consider to be standard.


The PCs seem to already have their reward, though whether they realize it or not is up to them. They appear to be in a position of leadership over a smallish group of civilians. If they cultivate that, they have the beginnings of a kingdom...

The PCs even already have some lands on their own, so this is undoubtedly something that could happen in the future, however I was thinking of a more immediate reward, something I can present them with at the beginning of the next session and that they can enjoy straight away.

I like the idea of a pirate ship trying to take advantage of the refugees and the PCs saving the day and gaining not only the cargo but also a new ship, keep them coming, the more ideas you give me the better!

[Twilightwyrm]

You know, this is a perfect example of making lemonade when life gives you lemons. Yes, the PCs are fleeing on some boats, with a whole host of refugees, and presumably nowhere in particular to go. On the other hand, the PCs have some ships and a whole host of refugees with nowhere in particular to go at their disposal. They have all the ingredients for the construction of their own CITY, and the potential power that brings with it, should they want either. Assuming it is something they would like, becoming the founders and leaders of a city, I'd say, would be an interesting reward, if nothing else. Granted one they will still need to work towards in the interim, but hey, you need to go through a process for making lemonade, and unless you are a high level wizard, a city cannot just be magiced up overnight.

[CaladanMoonblad]

So let me get this straight....

the PCs went off the main questline, decided to "look for trouble" and you want to reward them for their actions?

Sigh.

I'd go with Flickerdart's pirate suggestion (but only normal treasure per the DMG), perhaps rolling a few from Donjon's Random Treasure Generator (http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/treasure/) (40 or so CR 2 pirates) is fairly generous for this sort of encounter... and give the PCs 1/2 of the loot while the rest go to the civilians to rebuild their lives after the heroes screwed the pooch for them.

NM020110's suggestion of their own people can be coupled with Pathfinder's Kingdom rules or you can flub it with Stronghold Builder's Guide to create their own community. Perhaps on an island down the coast, and these people are biding their time to take back their own city.

[Andezzar]

While you can of course reward them for subsequent adventures, I would not reward them for their previous failure. They survived on the losing side of a battle and were not captured. That should be reward enough.

Besides the pirates there could be an influential noble among the refugees who enlists them to escort him/her to rich relatives.

As a twist enlist the characters to ensure a proper line of succession among the nobility in exile.

If they are evil, they already have their reward: a ship/fleet full of more or less able-bodied but unarmed people. There's got to be a market for that.

[Kalmageddon]

So let me get this straight....

the PCs went off the main questline, decided to "look for trouble" and you want to reward them for their actions?

Sigh.


It's a game, it's supposed to be fun.
I simply want to cheer up the party after an adventure gone terribly wrong so they can return adventuring with a high spirit. The damage that was done is done anyway, it's not like I'm asking for some kind of deus ex machina to make them win the battle they just lost.

[Andezzar]

If they get rewarded no matter whether they win they will appreciate the rewards they get if they do win less. They just lost, they should not have a high spirit. You should not make the situation hopeless either - that's when players get frustrated, but a pat on the back for losing will not encourage them to try harder.

So if there is stuff to do while they are fleeing, they should be fine.

[rot42]

The patron saint of Lost Causes smiles upon them bestowing a homebrewed template that gives a few minor advantages whenever they are outnumbered (+1 morale bonus? reciprocal flanking? maybe one of the Marshall or Dragon Shaman auras?).

Some noble reveals that they managed to squirrel away an embarrassingly large fortune during the escape - several boxes labeled as foodstuffs are instead stuffed with treasure - but grow worried for its safety with all these filthy starving peasants around.

The refugee ships become becalmed in doldrums not marked on the ships' charts. A weather-controlling monster is hunting ships but is wary of openly attacking so many at once. PCs given opportunity to investigate mysterious disappearances and track the monster back to its sumptuous sunken sargasso palace. Diving equipment could reasonably be available for loan on the ships.

As previous, but divinations reveal that the proximate cause lies on some nearby atoll and that a great danger awaits whosoever dares venture forth. Trapped on the island is some celestial (future quest giver?) whose patron deity has halted the ships to provide an answer to its prayers.

Meet a treasure ship collecting tribute from the old island (on its way in or on its way out depending on where you want them to end up). Works well with sneaking aboard, though be prepared for the PCs to divide everything into two categories: not nailed down, and on fire.

[nedz]

If they are in possession of some ships then these can be sold for cash. Most likely they don't own these vessels, but they could be given one when the refugees are led to safety.

Alternatively you could run a Marie Celeste encounter. Be sure to put a scrag in the bilge (That's a marine Troll).

[RogueDM]

I, personally, don't keep with bolstering party spirits... that's their job. And it makes the next victory all the sweeter.

That aside, ship wrecks on an uncharted island (big mother of a storm). There is some ancient temple on the island, quick trap bypassing provides loot and perhaps some for the civvies too. In the meantime the civvies have repaired the ship.

[buttcyst]

the reward for their failure in battle is their lives, they ran away for whatever reason and they still have their lives (bonus on the boat, good enough treasure in itself). Don't reward them any more than you already have, instead, leave the feelings there as fuel for revenge, which will be more rewarding than any gold equivalent you could ever give them, just show them subtly over the next few levels that it is possible to take the city back.

And yes, their spirits will be low at first, a few quick victories followed by a hook toward revenge will re-kindle any low spirits and revitalize everything. besides, they should feel low, they just gave their all and had to resort to fleeing, I'd feel pretty bad too... revenge is sweet.

[Dimers]

If you haven't statted the civilians yet, they could include some relatively powerful people -- in terms of skills, magic, or whose strings they can pull. In fact, a few might step up as cohorts for a while, sort of a short-term Leadership feat of your own design.

You could, of course, grant lots of bonus XP. It *is* quite an experience to survive being on the losing side of a war, and it tends to toughen those fortunate few.

Or give the PCs freebies based on how they managed to survive the war. If one of them withstood a mental attack, grant a free Iron Will. If someone kept going down to single-digit hit points but never died, that's a free (Improved) Toughness. Maybe a PC barely avoided getting hit several times -- a bonus Dodge feat is quite nice for people aiming for certain feat chains or paragon paths.

[Phelix-Mu]

The reward for messing stuff up is having a chance to turn it around, in my mind. Maybe not now, but at some point in the future they can revisit this situation and do right by it.

So, I'd just move onto the next thing, post-haste. Fear of present death often erases the gloom in a hurry, and encourages them to dust themselves off quickly and regroup.

And in this spirit:

- The player characters are on the ships. A mysterious disease is soon spread among the civilians. It doesn't kill, but incapacitates and causes some suffering. The cause of the illness is unclear and requires some role play to figure out just what is going on. Maybe there is an npc doctor or healer of some kind to interact with.

- The civilians quickly are reduced to panic; some want quarantines, some want to throw the sick overboard, and general chaos threatens to break out. The PCs have a chance to step up and lead, quelling the panic. Some nonlethal combat might be called for, enforcing the peace, so to speak.

- In the midst of this, strange rumors are spreading of male infidelity among the wives upon the ships. A strange woman has been spotted moving around the ships at night, seemingly coming and going at will. No one recognizes her. The woman have no evidence of infidelity, but intuitively sense that something is going on. Investigation turns up several of the men have been charmed, and possibly having their memories altered.

- It's immediately suggested that there is some witch among the women who changes her face and bewitches the men. This is patently nonsense to anyone with brains, but hey, the story grows legs; soon the witch is also behind the sickness. As the ships come ashore, the civilians are about to start trying several young women that stand out for some reason (pick: skin color, eye color, sexual preferences, linguistic differences, epilepsy, or any other minority distinguishing feature possible), with the classically disproportionate punishment that usually awaits those suspected of having mystical powers by superstitious commoners.

- So, players are still putting out fires. But it turns out that one of them has actually seen this mysterious female figure. Time for some tracking! *montage*

- It turns out that a sirine has followed the party since it's retreat from the island. For whatever reason, the sirine is involved in the issue with the siege and the failed plans of the party. I don't know the details of the OP's plot here, so bear with me.

- I propose that the sirine is angry with whomever the PCs were fighting over the death of her fellow sisters in their peaceful collective. For some reason, they were slaughtered; maybe a nobleman had fallen in love with one of the sirines, and when the sirine spurned his advances, he decided to do x or y, and inadvertently killed a bunch of sirines. This could all be some time ago.

- Anyway, the sirine now wishes for vengeance. She mistook the people on the ships for being somehow connected to the city the nobleman was from. She repents after learning the truth, and lifts the curse causing the sickness. Additionally, she offers financial backing as a sign of goodwill; she possesses the combined wealth of herself and her dead sisters, and wants to fund any effort that will give her a shot at revenge, since because of [insert plot reason here], she can't kill the nobleman/his family herself.

- If the PCs handle it right, this sirine is a spellcaster of some power, who is a willing ally until such time as they have forces for another attack. Finally, the PCs have led the civilians through several threats, and demonstrated wisdom and leadership abilities. The civilians view the party as heroes, despite their failings, and are ready to be lead in an effort to correct the ways things went wrong.

Sound useful? I can come up with something else if you wish. I prefer to avoid really obvious compensation, and some hoops and complications, a little sweat and suffering, usually obfuscate things enough that the players get the idea that they are being rewarded for their success, not for their failure (an impression worth cultivating).