PotA Side-session advice for a newish-DM

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

So I'm running PotA for a group of 5. The players are level 4, and have just cleared out Riverguard Keep. They've also pissed off the Earth and Air cults but have not cleared their respective Haunted Keeps.

Related backstory: After interacting socially with the Stone Monastery monks, the party had sneaked into the mines below the earth keep, killing the orcs and freeing the miners. They then bugged out and haven't been back.

At this point the module recommends some retaliation from the cults, in the form of an attack on a nearby town with a magical WMD that the players will then hear about ("Dire Tidings" p. 76 of PotA). Later on in the campaign the party will have an opportunity to thwart a similar attack.
This particular bit, of having a major event happen "off-camera", seems a bit dull, and I have the desire to show it, not tell it.

So I'm thinking for our next session to do something a little different. I have each player choose an NPC from Red Larch to play as for the session, and then act out the attack on the town.

Intro
Give players their character and an immediate motivation.
Players hear a warning from the guard, and general calamity, or are present when the Earth Cult arrives.

Mid
Cultists arrive, begin interrogating villagers looking for information about the party, and rounding up captives to be slaved/pressed into service.
The cult magic users take the time to specifically destroy the quarries, as they are an insult to the earth.
Once they have the full attention of the villagers, the cultists denounce the party and anyone who assists them is considered an enemy.
A battle may result, but the cult will be in overwhelming force. Any resistance will be met with brute force and crushed.
The cult will attempt to capture and make an example of anyone who attempts to talk back or rally the village.

End
The cult bring out a devastation orb, performs a ritual and destroys a part or all of the village in an earthquake/cataclysm.

Earth Cult
The earth cult have a particular hate for Red Larch as they see the quarries as an insult to the earth.
The attack is lead by Miraj Vizann (The Mud Sorcerer, Shieldface is looking for him) who leads a contingent from the Temple of Black Earth (the elites) who have the devastation orb in their care.
They are reinforced by a group from the Sacred Stone Monastery, lead by either Hellenrae or Qarbo (Earth Priest), they are mostly made of monks and a few hired duergar.

Character Ideas
Iraun Thelder - The stablemaster - One-eyed merc who spies for the howling hatred
Imdarr Relvaunder - Priest for Tempus, contact for the Order of Gauntlet
Justran Daehl - Partner owner of The Helm, bandit spy who reports to the Crushing Wave
Phaendra Chansyrl - Scout, owner of the leather goods store
Mangobarl Lorren - the baker, Zhentarim agent
Eldras Tantur - The blacksmith
Harbuk Tuthmarillar - Town constable, butcher's husband. Has a pair of assistants as well.
Elak Dornen - Noble, owner of the quarry, has 20 employees.
Ironhead - half-orc weapons dealer
Ilmeth Waelvur - 2nd tier wagon maker, a Believer
Aerego Bethendur - Believer, runs the warehouses, has 3 thugs working for him.
Gruund - Half Orc fool/simpleton
Endrith Vallivoe - General goods merchant, Harper Contact
Haeleeya Hanadroum - Runs the bathhouse and dress shop. Emerald Enclave contact
Helvur & Maegla Tarnlar - Clothier/merchant, Lord’s Alliance contact. Family man.

I've never done anything like this. My only experience in tabletop RPGs is running LMoP and what we've done so far in PotA. So yeah, I'm not entirely sure how this will work out or even if it's a good idea. How can I reward the players when this is a one-off? Am I just wasting time that could be spend better on the main PCs? Am I cannibalizing material that would be better used when the PCs will be present to thwart the later attack?
If this is something I should try, what should I look out for, and how can I improve it?

[lebefrei]

You're the DM, which means that you also play the gods. Have a voice boom in your players' minds. "Every action has consequences!" Then their eyes go white and they all fall to the ground. A Leomund's Tiny Hut appears around them (so they don't fear their characters' safety) and suddenly they are in these NPCs' minds.

Make it clear they are are "experiencing" the event, in other words they will gain experience for participating. I have found some players have effectively zero interest in things that they don't gain exp or loot from.

Now you're free to play out a scenario, and kill them off horribly as they struggle to survive. They've done something different and interesting, and gotten both experience from and a divine view of another event. It will feel special that way. If your party has someone proficient in religion let them try to recognize the god that showed them. If not leave them in the dark.

[Addaran]

Lebefrei as a good idea.

Maybe not a full session, but you could spend 30-60min of the session to show what happens. (Or one of the faction send them a magical message that plays the "movie")

If you do give players habitants of Red Larch,

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

Having a vision from the gods is an interesting idea. I could even have the characters wake up in possession of some trinket they didn't have before (linked to the character they had or the actions they took.)

And yes, if I did go that way, I'd avoid giving specific knowledge to the PCs. It's one thing to reveal it to the players and trust them not to metagame, another entirely when it explicitly becomes PC knowledge.

[Rhaegar]

I believe that the magical WMD scenarios are intended to be done after the players take out each of the cults temple complexes, beneath the haunted keeps, not when you defeat the haunted keeps. They have a separate section of ambush events to be accomplished as the players defeat the above ground haunted keeps to include water and air cultist ambushes, Ahnkeg attack, and demon dog attacks. These intended to help give bread crumbs towards new keeps if it's needed.

As DM you can certainly do the WMD events earlier than the book suggests, but you are definitely far from the intended point where they suggest implementing them.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

The eradication of one or more of the surface
outposts of the elemental cults marks the characters
as dangerous enemies. As the party continues the
assault on cult strongholds in Tyar-Besil, the elemental
prophets look for ways to hit back hard, using their
devastation orbs.

While I am stepping up the timeline a little, it is only very slightly. Trust me, based on the actions of the PCs thus far, it's time for a strong retaliation by the cults. They've already been prodded by the cults a few times, and the PCs have basically spat in their faces.

Edit: That said, we'll see if I actually bust this out now or a little later. News does take time to spread, forces need to be organized, etc.
But I'm less concerned with the WHEN, and more concerned about whether I should be doing this at all. I'll need ask my players about it, while not giving anything away.

[Rhaegar]

While I am stepping up the timeline a little, it is only very slightly. Trust me, based on the actions of the PCs thus far, it's time for a strong retaliation by the cults. They've already been prodded by the cults a few times, and the PCs have basically spat in their faces.

Edit: That said, we'll see if I actually bust this out now or a little later. News does take time to spread, forces need to be organized, etc.
But I'm less concerned with the WHEN, and more concerned about whether I should be doing this at all. I'll need ask my players about it, while not giving anything away.

I'm currently running the PotA campaign myself, and my players just hit level 5. I'm thinking of giving them the side quest from chapter 6, I forget exactly what it's called, but the one with the halfling farmer that serves the earth cult, as my players have most recently pissed them off. I hadn't thought about doing the WMD quests early, but it's something I might have to consider now.

My players handled the monastery a bit differently. They managed to sneak into the basement without being detected, cast invisibility on one player to release the Umber Hulk on the cultists. They then found the prisoners, but instead of rescuing them, told them they'd be back later and went to explore the Earth temple, fought the first group of gargoyles, retreated. Decided to sneak out and try to rescue the prisoners the next day. In sneaking out the garden, the gargoyles there attacked them. The players casting some very loud Thunder damage spells pulled half the monastery, including killing Hellenrae. They left nearly fully expended. In leaving they found that their servant that they left with the horses a mere 100ft away from the monastery captured while they were gone. They came back the next day to find the monastery mostly empty, to include most of the prisoners taken further below expect for a few dead and unconscious prisoners, which i tried unsuccessfully to use to scare them away from going back to the earth temple. Apparently a mention of their follower being taken to the torture chamber spurned them into action, oops. They attacked the earth temple, and got their butts kicked, only not dying due to me being a little nice in a couple places. They then leave the monastery, leaving the two injured prisoners behind in the kitchen to do as they please. Never even checking on them again. Hey they're just random NPCs we don't care about. The intentionally avoid the courtyard where they see more gargoyle statues, but don't mention that to the 2 rescued prisoners. I'm still thinking of a way to make them really regret not carrying about those two prisoners.

[EvanescentHero]

An alternative idea is to have the event happen off-"camera," but for the party to receive word from the town when things start to get dire. By the time they get there, the town has been eradicated, but you can do an interesting mystery sort of session, where they investigate the aftermath and try to determine what happened.

Of course, your group might not be interested in that sort of session, in which case ignore this idea. But it's another avenue you could take without resorting to playing other characters.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

That's a good option, I like it.

[Dimcair]

an interesting mystery session .

I personally hate these. Don't get me wrong, some investigation and mystery is nice, but I'd avoid building a whole session around it.
I wonder why I don't like these... i think it has to do with the DM often seeing a clear and fast way to find out all you need and move on. while the players (who don't know what the dm knows) have a much harder time sorting through it.

[EvanescentHero]

I personally hate these. Don't get me wrong, some investigation and mystery is nice, but I'd avoid building a whole session around it.
I wonder why I don't like these... i think it has to do with the DM often seeing a clear and fast way to find out all you need and move on. while the players (who don't know what the dm knows) have a much harder time sorting through it.

That's why I cautioned it might not be for everyone. It's certainly a tonal shift from most campaigns, and it takes finesse to drop the right amount of clues to steer the players in the right direction without immediately giving it away. But if done right, it can work.

I agree that it doesn't necessarily need to be a whole session, especially if the players generally prefer the action. I'm just offering another idea.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

My players handled the monastery a bit differently. They managed to sneak into the basement without being detected, cast invisibility on one player to release the Umber Hulk on the cultists. They then found the prisoners, but instead of rescuing them, told them they'd be back later and went to explore the Earth temple, fought the first group of gargoyles, retreated. Decided to sneak out and try to rescue the prisoners the next day. In sneaking out the garden, the gargoyles there attacked them. The players casting some very loud Thunder damage spells pulled half the monastery, including killing Hellenrae. They left nearly fully expended. In leaving they found that their servant that they left with the horses a mere 100ft away from the monastery captured while they were gone. They came back the next day to find the monastery mostly empty, to include most of the prisoners taken further below expect for a few dead and unconscious prisoners, which i tried unsuccessfully to use to scare them away from going back to the earth temple. Apparently a mention of their follower being taken to the torture chamber spurned them into action, oops. They attacked the earth temple, and got their butts kicked, only not dying due to me being a little nice in a couple places. They then leave the monastery, leaving the two injured prisoners behind in the kitchen to do as they please. Never even checking on them again. Hey they're just random NPCs we don't care about. The intentionally avoid the courtyard where they see more gargoyle statues, but don't mention that to the 2 rescued prisoners. I'm still thinking of a way to make them really regret not carrying about those two prisoners.

In my group, we had a very capable party face, a bard-lock. He managed to ingratiate himself with the duergar while separate from the party, and promised them some entertainment. The next day the party presented themselves to the monks, got an audience with Quarbo, and then were "tested" by the Umber Hulk. After they defeated it, they played up possible initiation into the cult. The Goliath barbarian in the party ended up sparing with Hellenrae, getting pretty beat up, but saving face by throwing Hellenrae off the mat.
That night the bard-lock got let into the kitchens to put on a show for the duergar before their shift in the mines, learned a few things and met the orc captain when he came to yell at the dwarves to get to work.
After that, the monks asked the party to deal with the Lich in the east wing, which they knew only as a "powerful magic user". They broke in, but then lost their nerve when the Lich warned them to buzz off. So they went down via the east wing, cleared the undead, and then cleared the orc guardpost. Now the bard-lock disguised himself as the orc captain and told the duergar in another part of the mine that they needed the slaves for something, then the party vamoosed via the underground exit with the slaves.

[EvanescentHero]

To expand on my idea, if you fear the players will get bored simply investigating, you could throw in a couple combat encounters. The cult basically sets off an elemental bomb, right? Maybe have an elemental or two lingering in the town due to the aftermath of the incident. They should be able to handle an elemental at this level, though it may be tough. You could also have them encounter a group of cultists that are patrolling the area or something like that.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

To expand on my idea, if you fear the players will get bored simply investigating, you could throw in a couple combat encounters. The cult basically sets off an elemental bomb, right? Maybe have an elemental or two lingering in the town due to the aftermath of the incident. They should be able to handle an elemental at this level, though it may be tough. You could also have them encounter a group of cultists that are patrolling the area or something like that.

Or Mephits spontaneously appearing at a tear in reality. Or just plain looters. Lots of ways to mix it up :)

[EvanescentHero]

Or Mephits spontaneously appearing at a tear in reality. Or just plain looters. Lots of ways to mix it up :)

Yeah, appropriate mephits would definitely work too. I was considering them, but they're such a low CR there would have to be tons to challenge the party. Not that they necessarily need to challenge them--they could just be there for effect.

[GWJ_DanyBoy]

Player reach ground zero, but before they can investigate there's a mildly annoying group of elemental spirits to be dispatched. Initiatives rolled, the party makes quick work of them. But then the ground begins to rumble and a large figure explodes from below.

[Rhaegar]

In my group, we had a very capable party face, a bard-lock. He managed to ingratiate himself with the duergar while separate from the party, and promised them some entertainment. The next day the party presented themselves to the monks, got an audience with Quarbo, and then were "tested" by the Umber Hulk. After they defeated it, they played up possible initiation into the cult. The Goliath barbarian in the party ended up sparing with Hellenrae, getting pretty beat up, but saving face by throwing Hellenrae off the mat.
That night the bard-lock got let into the kitchens to put on a show for the duergar before their shift in the mines, learned a few things and met the orc captain when he came to yell at the dwarves to get to work.
After that, the monks asked the party to deal with the Lich in the east wing, which they knew only as a "powerful magic user". They broke in, but then lost their nerve when the Lich warned them to buzz off. So they went down via the east wing, cleared the undead, and then cleared the orc guardpost. Now the bard-lock disguised himself as the orc captain and told the duergar in another part of the mine that they needed the slaves for something, then the party vamoosed via the underground exit with the slaves.

I really wish my players would try more things like this, more RP/intrigue solutions. They always seem to look at things from a tactical perspective, how do I defeat this dungeons. Some of them seem to be looking at it from a World of Warcraft perspective. Granted they are some very smart tactically minded players, the former military man and physicist, the rocket scientist, and such. Though they might end up being surprised one day when monster 'aggro' doesn't exactly work how they would expect it form a video game perspective.