GuestEleven
2020-03-05, 04:37 PM
Sorry if this ends up being a long winded post. Recently in my current campaign set in Faerūn my players have gotten pretty wild and I'm looking to maybe set things right, or at least implement their wrongdoings as a narrative device. I'll do my best to keep things short and concise. I'd like to note that a lot of my players have issue maintaining character and often their own personalities bleed heavily into their character actions. It is something we've been slowly trying to work on.
So the party started off in Daggerford and almost immediately decided that they were going to form an adventuring company. Most of the party ranged from various types of good to lawful neutral. One of my first big plot hooks was when only one of the merchants of the expected merchant caravan makes it to town due to an ambush near Dragonspear Castle. It was reported that some of the caravan members were killed on the spot and the rest were captured. Party takes the tremendous task of rescuing the captured prisoners and retrieving the stolen goods for the town.
This is where the first break in character happens. The one merchant who made it through the ambush offers to cut a deal with the party where he pays them for the goods and they report them lost to the town. The NG cleric of Helm was the first to accept the deal which was shocking. Following this when they get to Dragonspear Castle and had freed a room full of prisoners one of the rescuees was not intent on staying put while the party cleared the rest of the dungeon. So when the npc runs off the neutral good cleric casts Guiding Bolt, 'killing him for his own good'.
After they return to town and stash the reclaimed goods for later the LN monk that worshipped Mystra visited a local wizard seeking more knowledge about her. The wizard openly shared his distaste for Mystra, so the monk and the party's NG sorcerer murder him in his own home for it. They rolled pretty highly to smooth it over with the guard and pretty much immediately left town.
Finally they arrive at Waterdeep. I'll cut the plot out so this doesn't get too convoluted. After a series of events the party kidnapped a noble they suspected of being having knowledge of an assassin they were hunting, they knew him to be a bit of a scumbag and trying to get back into the slave trade for which his house was once exiled for due to slavery being illegal in Waterdeep. Keep in mind that they assaulted him, kidnapped him, and threatened his life multiple times on a hunch with no substantial proof. They ended up being right though. They kept him in their care until they had no use for his information. At this point a player coerced him into signing over his home and assets to the PC. The players had just found an infernal puzzlebox that had important information inside. It requires a DC 30 investigation check to open, and on a failure they have to make a DC 18 will save or take 12d6 psychic damage. After a few failed attempts to open it a player tossed it to the noble and told him that they'd let him go free if he managed to open the box. I'm sure you all can guess what became of the noble.
I thought surely they were just going to dump his body and wash their hands of it, but no. Apparently they expect to turn him in and collect a reward. To me it sounds like absolute insanity. From where I'm standing this looks like they're responsible for what is essentially the death of a noble. Their adventuring company is just starting to take off, I was thinking this would be the best/worst time for their past to catch up with them. But is it unreasonable for me to do so? I already kinda set a precedent for allowing their outrageous behavior to go unabated so would it be right for my to put my foot down now?
TL;DR I have allowed players to act way off alignment and reason, is it right for me to lay down the law after allowing it to continue for so long?
So the party started off in Daggerford and almost immediately decided that they were going to form an adventuring company. Most of the party ranged from various types of good to lawful neutral. One of my first big plot hooks was when only one of the merchants of the expected merchant caravan makes it to town due to an ambush near Dragonspear Castle. It was reported that some of the caravan members were killed on the spot and the rest were captured. Party takes the tremendous task of rescuing the captured prisoners and retrieving the stolen goods for the town.
This is where the first break in character happens. The one merchant who made it through the ambush offers to cut a deal with the party where he pays them for the goods and they report them lost to the town. The NG cleric of Helm was the first to accept the deal which was shocking. Following this when they get to Dragonspear Castle and had freed a room full of prisoners one of the rescuees was not intent on staying put while the party cleared the rest of the dungeon. So when the npc runs off the neutral good cleric casts Guiding Bolt, 'killing him for his own good'.
After they return to town and stash the reclaimed goods for later the LN monk that worshipped Mystra visited a local wizard seeking more knowledge about her. The wizard openly shared his distaste for Mystra, so the monk and the party's NG sorcerer murder him in his own home for it. They rolled pretty highly to smooth it over with the guard and pretty much immediately left town.
Finally they arrive at Waterdeep. I'll cut the plot out so this doesn't get too convoluted. After a series of events the party kidnapped a noble they suspected of being having knowledge of an assassin they were hunting, they knew him to be a bit of a scumbag and trying to get back into the slave trade for which his house was once exiled for due to slavery being illegal in Waterdeep. Keep in mind that they assaulted him, kidnapped him, and threatened his life multiple times on a hunch with no substantial proof. They ended up being right though. They kept him in their care until they had no use for his information. At this point a player coerced him into signing over his home and assets to the PC. The players had just found an infernal puzzlebox that had important information inside. It requires a DC 30 investigation check to open, and on a failure they have to make a DC 18 will save or take 12d6 psychic damage. After a few failed attempts to open it a player tossed it to the noble and told him that they'd let him go free if he managed to open the box. I'm sure you all can guess what became of the noble.
I thought surely they were just going to dump his body and wash their hands of it, but no. Apparently they expect to turn him in and collect a reward. To me it sounds like absolute insanity. From where I'm standing this looks like they're responsible for what is essentially the death of a noble. Their adventuring company is just starting to take off, I was thinking this would be the best/worst time for their past to catch up with them. But is it unreasonable for me to do so? I already kinda set a precedent for allowing their outrageous behavior to go unabated so would it be right for my to put my foot down now?
TL;DR I have allowed players to act way off alignment and reason, is it right for me to lay down the law after allowing it to continue for so long?