Need some help catching some filthy criminal PC's

[Goldenslinger]

Hello everyone I call out to anyone that can help with a problem I'm having with some of my fellow player characters.
You see it all started when my I was making my charecter (a human cavalier) my Gm said that my "free" horse would have some interesting qualities one such quality was it's inate taste for alcohol due to my charecters teacher giving said horse (named heinrick) it's "tastes"
Now my charecter is trying to break heinrick of his problem and it was going pretty well until the party found out. now I've had a problem with heinrick getting a bowl of alcohol everytime my charecter sleeps. I didn't know who it was at first but with a slight hint from the GM I am sure it is one of three people in the party if not all three.
So I call upon the glorious people here to help me catch the criminals. Give me the best means of trapping the perpetrators, I'm looking for some real Scooby-Doo crap here XD
edit: since some people wanted more information here it is.
my charecter: lvl 4 human cavalier
party: 1 Rouge, 2 Rangers, 2 fighters, 1 bard and 1 home brew Non-caster healer. all are lvl 4
main suspects are 1 dark elf Ranger 1 human bard a and 1 unknown
magic is uncommon but present in the world
I have in my inventory
a longsword
a drow shield that is resistant to magic
chain mail armor
1 barbed Lance
5 breakable lances
and a magic sword that when you touch any part of it cuts into your hand and sucks the blood from it.
other then that I can by basic materials no problem

[denthor]

I would like to see what others come up with.

I don't think there is a solution.

[Doctor Despair]

Well, tell us your resources, then. Race, class levels, items. What classes are your party members, too?

[Gellhorn]

1)Put points in disguise
2)Disguise yourself as a horse
3)????
4)Free Alcohol

[Doctor Despair]

1)Put points in disguise
2)Disguise yourself as a horse
3)????
4)Free Alcohol

This guy's going places.

Alright, in the absence of any other information regarding your character: have you tried asking your horse?

[Yahzi]

So I call upon the glorious people here to help me catch the criminals. Give me the best means of trapping the perpetrators, I'm looking for some real Scooby-Doo crap here XD
Accidentally break all the bowls in the party's inventory. Feel so bad about it you buy everyone a new bowl. Make sure all the bowls are different (or secretly marked on the bottom).

In the morning you can identify the perp by identifying the bowl.

Then stab him to death for corrupting a minor (your horse is almost certainly under the legal drinking age).

[flappeercraft]

Dip the bowls used for alchohol given to your horse, in harmless ink of the same color as the bowl itself. Make sure it stains real well, that way when someone tries to go wash their hands for a while then you know its them and if they don't bother you can always look at their hands in the morning.

Edit: In response to Yahzi, they might actually use someone elses bowl if they notice which would lead to misguiding evidence.

[herceg]

Ask your fellow players to stop it - this kind of stuff could quickly escalate into player-conflict.

[Tuvarkz]

If you can, hire a 5th level wizard with a familar that has darkvision to have the familiar hide/pretend to be a normal animal in the barn/stables overnight and then the familiar can tell the wizard a rough description of who did it.

[Segev]

The easiest thing to do would be to feign sleep rather than actually sleeping, and just keep an eye and ear out.

Since your horse is probably a warhorse, you can potentially train it to use the "guard" trick, and have it attack anybody but you who comes within reach while you're sleeping. Or at least whinny loudly enough to wake you.

Buy a rope trap of the "haul them in the air" style and set it up such that anybody who approaches your steed is likely to set it off.

Train your horse to do a trick where he follows anybody who gives him alcohol and pisses on their gear.


Or, for an elaborate mind-game, confront the party about it. Explain why you want it to stop, and ask them kindly to do so. Ask whoever did it to come forward. If none speak up, ask each individually if they're responsible. Take their word for it if they deny it. If everybody denies it, then use your high Charisma to Bluff believing them, and thus start to take higher precautions. Demand ever-more elaborate security measures around camp. Demand everybody present all of their gear for inspection every day.

Institute draconian, highly inconvenient security policies regarding accessing anybody's gear, and inform them (and follow through) that you will personally sanitize any gear that you don't think has been properly handled. "Sanitization" means a thorough search and destruction of anything consumable or which might potentially be sabotaged.

Make everybody follow the new procedures, which get more elaborate as this goes on, to the letter all the time, lest you take the necessary precautions to prevent poisoning and other sabotage. This should take at least a couple hours every day, and eventually become paralyzing.

When the party asks why, point out that somebody who is NOT in the party is sneaking in and feeding alcohol to your horse. Who knows what else this nefarious person or persons are doing, or planning to do, since they have such access? Who knows what other gear has been messed with?

All the while, Bluff your heart out that you honestly believe your party is innocent and that there is this horrible danger out there. Become so paranoid that it becomes unbearable to the other PCs. Make a wacky hijinks farce out of it. It may amuse the other players for a time, but their characters will doubtless get more and more annoyed.

If nothing else, the increased inane security measures might make it possible to catch the culprit in the act. But more likely, it will make this prank a serious pain for the culprit, and they'll 'fess up, because you're not going to stop until you're sure the threat has been neutralized. And as long as you don't catch the threat in the act, AND the alcohol poisoning of your noble steed doesn't stop, you will Bluff that you're convinced it's still out there.

[SirNibbles]

Beat your horse until it's unconscious and then heal it so that it's below 0 HP but no longer dying, but still unconscious and disabled. Go to sleep. Whichever party member tells you that your horse is injured and won't wake up is the culprit.

[Inevitability]

Beat your horse until it's unconscious and then heal it so that it's below 0 HP but no longer dying, but still unconscious and disabled. Go to sleep. Whichever party member tells you that your horse is injured and won't wake up is the culprit.

Needless cruelty against animals aside, we know the party member in question will tell the horse's owner that because...?

[Doctor Despair]

Needless cruelty against animals aside, we know the party member in question will tell the horse's owner that because...?

Guys, we still haven't ruled out that the horse is doing it all on its own. Have we exhausted all opportunities to ask the horse?

[WbtE]

Fake your horse's death. Declare that the poor beast died of alcohol poisoning. Inflict (with the DM's help) a lengthy funeral on the other PCs. Give a long eulogy in which you say that you blame yourself for the horse's demise, how you knew the creature was weak but you needed him to bear you into realms of temptation. If you can make yourself cry, do so, otherwise just describe your character weeping.

If anyone confesses, have your character thank them but deny it and carry on the mourning until they offer proof. After this gigantic guilt trip they are unlikely to repeat their fun & games.

If they don't confess, disguise your horse as another horse and claim that you have bought a replacement. This should put them off the trail for a bit.

[Goldenslinger]

as funny as it would be i dont think the horse is pouring himself a bowl of alcohol. Heinrick is not actively seeking alcohol but is asking people for it because he has a problem that 3 of the party members are enabiling

[Telok]

Get Bestow Curse cast on your horse. The curse: complete, unrelenting, hatred towards anyone but you who tries to feed it.

[Zanos]

Ask your fellow players to stop it - this kind of stuff could quickly escalate into player-conflict.
Normally I'm against PvP, but they're just giving his alcoholic horse booze. That's slapstick.

[Dagroth]

The easiest thing to do would be to feign sleep rather than actually sleeping, and just keep an eye and ear out.

Since your horse is probably a warhorse, you can potentially train it to use the "guard" trick, and have it attack anybody but you who comes within reach while you're sleeping. Or at least whinny loudly enough to wake you.

Buy a rope trap of the "haul them in the air" style and set it up such that anybody who approaches your steed is likely to set it off.

Train your horse to do a trick where he follows anybody who gives him alcohol and pisses on their gear.

These are some great ideas... especially the last one.


Or, for an elaborate mind-game, confront the party about it. Explain why you want it to stop, and ask them kindly to do so. Ask whoever did it to come forward. If none speak up, ask each individually if they're responsible. Take their word for it if they deny it. If everybody denies it, then use your high Charisma to Bluff believing them, and thus start to take higher precautions. Demand ever-more elaborate security measures around camp. Demand everybody present all of their gear for inspection every day.

Institute draconian, highly inconvenient security policies regarding accessing anybody's gear, and inform them (and follow through) that you will personally sanitize any gear that you don't think has been properly handled. "Sanitization" means a thorough search and destruction of anything consumable or which might potentially be sabotaged.

Make everybody follow the new procedures, which get more elaborate as this goes on, to the letter all the time, lest you take the necessary precautions to prevent poisoning and other sabotage. This should take at least a couple hours every day, and eventually become paralyzing.

When the party asks why, point out that somebody who is NOT in the party is sneaking in and feeding alcohol to your horse. Who knows what else this nefarious person or persons are doing, or planning to do, since they have such access? Who knows what other gear has been messed with?

All the while, Bluff your heart out that you honestly believe your party is innocent and that there is this horrible danger out there. Become so paranoid that it becomes unbearable to the other PCs. Make a wacky hijinks farce out of it. It may amuse the other players for a time, but their characters will doubtless get more and more annoyed.

If nothing else, the increased inane security measures might make it possible to catch the culprit in the act. But more likely, it will make this prank a serious pain for the culprit, and they'll 'fess up, because you're not going to stop until you're sure the threat has been neutralized. And as long as you don't catch the threat in the act, AND the alcohol poisoning of your noble steed doesn't stop, you will Bluff that you're convinced it's still out there.

Love this... but could cause problems.


Fake your horse's death. Declare that the poor beast died of alcohol poisoning. Inflict (with the DM's help) a lengthy funeral on the other PCs. Give a long eulogy in which you say that you blame yourself for the horse's demise, how you knew the creature was weak but you needed him to bear you into realms of temptation. If you can make yourself cry, do so, otherwise just describe your character weeping.

If anyone confesses, have your character thank them but deny it and carry on the mourning until they offer proof. After this gigantic guilt trip they are unlikely to repeat their fun & games.

If they don't confess, disguise your horse as another horse and claim that you have bought a replacement. This should put them off the trail for a bit.

Okay, this is probably the best one.

[onikataki]

Why not just get a neutral party druid to talk to the horse?