GM written into a corner

[Nocturnesilver]

So I ran the Dragon's Demand adventure module (Pathfinder) with my own twists along the way. Namely that the wizard Hunclay came back as a lich in service to Yog-sothoth (so cthulu flavor and not a standard lich.) The group defeated him and then the dragon, received their knighthoods and accolades from the town of Belhaim and set off to track down the lich's phylactery in the city of Yanmass to destroy him once and for all.

Problem is that Hunclay using a daywalker spell made alliances with the nobles and convinced them that the party had tricked the original town of Belhaim into believing him a lich, killed his cousin (who he had actually killed), that they attempted to kill him and stole his lands and property (which were granted to them as part of their knighting), oh and that they had conned the town into granting the knighthoods after slaying illusionary dragons and convincing them to deal with kobolds, orcs and shadow people. The last is partially true as the kobold tribe that had originally been serving the dragon did broker a peace and trading agreement with the town with the aid of the party and there was a benevolent orc witch from the swamp that aided them in defeating the dragon along with the shadow person that Hunclay had originally summoned and imprisoned and her daughter who is one of the PCs (a shadow-elf rogue archer).

So now they're wanted fugitives with a bounty on their heads and can't just stroll into his complex to destroy the phylactery. Before they realized they were fugitives they brutally destroyed a group of bounty hunters in a small village just a day's travel from Yanmass and the nobles that they had been escorting to Yanmass saw the wanted poster first and fled only for the party's wizard to chase after them using a necromantic version of the flight spell (he was confused as to why they were fleeing from him.)

The party is now headed back to Belhaim but will find that their wanted posters are notarized by the crown and spread throughout the kingdom. An inquisitor is on his way to Belhaim to verify the truth of the claims and two regiments of the army coming from opposite directions are headed to Belhaim to clear out any monsters found therein. Those should arrive within a week. The baroness can stand by them but likely be deposed for being complicit with their supposed schemes or can denounce them to save her own hide, thus making clearing their name all that much harder.

I'm not sure where to go from here which is making game prep infinitely difficult. I can always send more bounty hunters at them, the army, the inquisitor, but none of that moves the story forward, helps them clear their names or ultimately destroy the lich and his phylactery. I have ideas for other big bads down the line but I need to get over this rut to move the story forward.

Originally I had thought the inquisitor to be a corrupt bureaucrat that would not take their side regardless of the truth, but making him an ally may make matters simpler, just not sure I want to go that route. Any advice is more than welcome.

(Addendum: The party is currently 9th level and made up of an Elf wizard who is the Lich's arch nemesis, the Shadow-Elf rogue archer, a Human barbarian from Numeria, his partner a Human witch who wears a gown of vampiric touch and has a raven familiar, & a Forlorn-Elf witch/vitalist with his goat familiar) The last three are new allies but have shipped their lot as having aided the fugitives so bounties are out for them as well. Two of the original party members have left for other destinations and may encounter off screen tribulations (former players.)

[Strigon]

You don't necessarily have to get them out of this. There are times when the appropriate action is to see what the players do and respond.
Do they have any other allies they could call upon? Are they particularly well-known? Saving small villages or towns is a staple of being a party; is there anyone they've saved who could help them?

Personally, I would figure out a plausible response to what they've done, make sure it won't annihilate them or bog them down too much, and then see how they want to proceed. Then, work with them on that goal.

[Nocturnesilver]

That's kind of where the problem comes from. They spent the first leg of this campaign in the small town of Belhaim dealing with the Lich and a dragon. They were victorious but before they could get to the lich's phylactery he had reformed and spread a twisted version of the events so that any outside of the town would believe that the town had been conned rather than actually saved. Because of this no one from the town will have any clout with outsiders and those are the only people the party knows, well and the nobles they had been escorting but they had believed what they read on the wanted poster. So far my story telling has been fairly linear, choices sure, but I had a general direction. Now I have no rudder and it's full on sandbox with no way for me to guide the story that I can see.

[Alcore]

Now would be a good time for a noble who wants his actions to remain unknown to the public to approach the PCs. He will want to use them for his own gain (likely also improving the common man's life) who has connections of his own. Who has people of his own.


Even at 9 the PCs (might) still lack the power to topple the 'bad guys' so they likely only have two real options; seek help or run off and not be seen in that kingdom. The real bad guys might win but, if they run, it provides a good opportunity for downtime or side adventures for wealth, XP and connections. All of which might make the end game funner.

[Darth Ultron]

Now I have no rudder and it's full on sandbox with no way for me to guide the story that I can see.

The problem is you made your own corner.

''The lich snapped his fingers and the whole world fell for his story''. That is how it stands now, and your stuck with it. Or are you? Well...how about just say not ''everyone'' believes the story. Give the PC's an ally or two that will be like ''that story is not true''.

You could also have a god step in with the light touch of giving (whatever the Pathinder god of truth and justice is) a vision of the true truth to some followers.

Magic, in general, can also get the true truth...like divinations.

You can also have the lich ''act up'' as he thinks he has ''won'' and ''slip up'' somehow and make folks suspicious.

[Nocturnesilver]

The problem is you made your own corner.

I know I did.
I failed to think about the long term implications of the twist. It fit with the type of evil the lich would do and is more interesting than torture, murder, and hordes of monsters. It was also very rewarding in the moment and made for a great session. When the players realized that they had gone from being knighted and respected heroes of the realm to feared fugitives the reactions were priceless.

It also served the story to force roleplaying as they are somewhat overpowered and have a tendency to destroy everything in their way. There will likely be ramifications for killing the good and neutral alligned adventuring band of bounty hunters, blowing up local heroes into icy chunks in the middle of a tavern should not be easily forgiven espicially if the Inquisitor does take their side.

It's clear they're going to need an ally with some clout outside of the village, not necessarily a fix it with the easy button, but some leverage. I have some ideas now and a potential direction, any other thoughts or suggestions are more than welcome.

[Pleh]

As a player, I wouldn't want the GM to solve this problem for me (we've successfully created our own game content here, isn't it kinda the goal of the game to get so invested that we create our own problems and then solve them?). I want to have the chance to take this on for myself as long as there are clear paths through this that lead to success.

As a GM, I want to keep things feeling both natural and fair. Having a corrupt inquisitor may be thematically interesting, but also could feel a bit like things are weighted against the players a little too heavily. Perhaps just giving him a slant or a prejudice. Maybe in the past there were adventurers who did something wrong and got away with it and this inquisitor is eager to make up for not being able to serve justice in the past. He has a heavy prejudice against the heroes, but ultimately serves the cause of justice and would turn on the lich if sufficient proof were provided.

This is where the recommendation for the "over-confident slip-up" comes in. The heroes lay low and gather information and allies while waiting for the inquisitor to show up. The Inquisitor, in assessing the situation, needs to gather evidence against the heroes and gains access to the Lich's lair (if only the safe portions that seem normal). The lich, perhaps feeling somewhat heady with the incredible advantage of his position, actually could reveal the phylactery's location (if not its purpose or how to access it). Thus heroes that infiltrate the inquisitor's entourage could use this situation to their advantage, either choosing to strike at the phylactery at that moment (forcing the lich to either rely on the Inquisitor to defend his phylactery or show his hand by defending it himself), or else try a less direct approach, like planning a heist or an all out assault on the lich's lair.

In any case, if the Heroes can get to the phylactery while a national Inquisitor is in town, no matter the outcome of the fight, the phylactery will be condemning evidence to an inquisitor. Even if the Inquisitor decides that the heroes are still guilty of something, he won't be able to leave the lich in a state of power over the town.

EDIT: Another thought: if you go with the baroness route, I would give her the angle that she wants to help the heroes, but given what she would have to sacrifice for them, she asks them for compensation. An IOU if nothing else.

[Nocturnesilver]

Having a corrupt inquisitor may be thematically interesting, but also could feel a bit like things are weighted against the players a little too heavily. Perhaps just giving him a slant or a prejudice...
This is where the recommendation for the "over-confident slip-up" comes in. The heroes lay low and gather information and allies while waiting for the inquisitor to show up.

The Inquisitor seems like the best option for an ally. I like the idea of him being biased but not corrupt, although the Baroness could fear him to be corrupt. The lich's current lair and home to his phylactery is back in the City of yanmass but perhaps revisiting his original lair near the town of Belhaim for information gathering may be in order.

I was also having a hard time thinking how they could expose the lich without him being foolish enough to be in front of the nobles and the party at the same time but a trial would give them reason to be in the same room. He does want the Secrets Of The Dreaming Dark book back from them (nevermind that they already destroyed it and scattered the remains) If he was cocky and sure of triumphing over the party he would show.

[Pleh]

Or a trial that he seeks to attend could be the perfect ploy to draw him away from his lair, leaving the phylactery without him to watch over it. I imagine he has other defenses, but a clever party could find a way to use the trial to keep the lich preoccupied while they find and destroy his phylactery.

Getting the lich to show up might be how the baroness helps out. She could invoke some local law (I'm not familiar with the local laws, but a baroness in a feudal land might have jurisdiction to arbitrate in the trial) that would acquit the heroes unless the lich showed up to testify.

[Nocturnesilver]

The lich under the guise of the daywalker spell used his status and wealth as a noble from when he had been alive to plead with the regional authority to aid and protect him from the adventurers, offering up substantial coin of his own for the reward and a little extra on the side. So rumor-mongering, political pull and a little bribery I guess?
In case any are interested here is the text from the wanted poster:

Wanted - Dead or Alive
Sir Selcar Tadriel
10,000 gold
Elven Wizard with pale skin and long white hair last seen in Belhaim.
Typically seen wearing dark robes and carrying a bow as well as a staff.
Wanted, dead or alive for crimes against the crown of Taldor.
Reward to be paid by Duke Cisco Fernand and the City of Yanmass.

2,000 gold reward offered for known associates:
Sir Delgar Grimgrog - Dwarven cleric of Sarenrae, wields a Warhammer
Dame Tindomerel - Shadow person and rogue, deadly with her bow
Dame Talulla Lane - Lizardperson and ranger, travels with a large wolf.
Any others found to be aiding the wizard shall also have a bounty of 1,000 gold each.

Crimes listed:
Treason, Defamation of Character, Slander, Larceny, Coercion, Manipulation, Murder, Attempted Murder, Assault, Consorting with enemies of the realm

Brief:
While in Belhaim, Selcar Tadriel and his associates coerced the local baroness to consort with the likes of kobolds, orcs, lizard people and creatures from the shadow plane. After murdering Lady Elvina Hunclay the Wizard Selcar proceeded to wage a campaign of defamation and slander against her cousin Lord Balthus Arin Hunclay, claiming him to be a Lich. He used these lies to ransack and pilfer Lord Hunclay's personal belongings, then coerced the baroness into granting him Lord Hunclay's holdings in the form of estate and lands. He and his associates proceeded to attempt to murder the venerable lord who has now fled to the safety of Yanmass where he grieves the loss of his cousin.
Further the traitor Selcar, using the illusionary threat of dragons and dracoliches attacking the town coerced the baroness of Belhaim to grant himself and his associates knighthoods. Needless to say, these knighthoods should not be honored and any harboring these fugitives from justice shall face steep fines and possible imprisonment. This false knight of the realm has left the once peaceful town of Belhaim crawling with kobolds and other monsters and is even now seeking to end the life of our esteemed Lord Hunclay. Take great caution as Selcar is known to be a powerful conjurer and travels with likewise capable allies.
Proof of slaying in the form of his head is required if taken dead; ensure silenced and bound if taken alive. Of all the possessions Selcar has stolen from Lord Hunclay the only item of note is a book titled Secrets of the Dreaming Dark. There is an additional 10,000 gold reward if this book can be recovered intact.

[John Longarrow]

There are dozens of things the players can do, but if you write out a story for them they won't be able to do anything other than your script.

I'd give the players a lot of room to figure out what they want to do and see where they go. This could wind up being anything from leaving the kingdom, going into hiding, becoming rebels, to associating with the thieves guild to help them in return for their assistance with the lich. Don't worry about what you need to plan, just write down a hundred names and fill in details as PCs run into them ask talk. This is the perfect time to let them sandbox and help you learn to let THEM tell THEIR story. Some times this is far more entertaining than what you came up with.