I am a bit stuck on how to proceed with my story. Help?

[Sir-Carlos]

I threw together my first home-brew game (wohoo!), but now, after a few sessions I am a bit stuck on how to proceed and I am also worried that I did mess up. The story is, that the PCs investigated a Kobold cave, an ordinary "go and slay" quest. It was meant to be a brief side-quest to hint at some greater things in the campaign. But they thought: "Oh, Kobolds! Pfhh, let's get them boys, what are they going to do about it?" they severely underestimated the enemy, split the party, etc. I adjusted the fight on the fly, but they still managed to get all knocked unconscious.

I now needed a way for them to escape from captivity and get their stuff back. Enter Lord Kolander. He is a cloud giant disguised as a human, whose parents were slain by adventurers. He now takes revenge by trading weapons to Kobolds, Goblins and all other creatures that are the favorite target of adventurers. He bought the PCs and their equipment back from the Kobolds and gave them back their freedom. he also gave the characters a quest, so they could return the favor. They had to deliver one batch of weapons and clothing to an Ogre-Family. They accepted.

The problem: The PCs absolutely hated him. And after some hours of travel, they threw the weapons away. But Kulanter has a drop of blood, belonging to the parties wizard. (He told them that he would return the drop of blood to them, after they completed the quest. He was afraid that they would otherwise slay the Ogres). his personal Wizard will soon use the blood to scry on the group.

now here is where I am stuck. What do I do about this? Take revenge? that seems bad, because they would have no chance. But he also won't let the matter go. Kulanter is very vain and arrogant, and the PCs just proved to him, that they are just as honorless as other adventurers (at least from his personal point of view.). Also, did I mess up as a DM? I thought I introduced a cool NPC and elegantly helped the characters out of their predicament. but it didn't go at all as planned.

[Carecalmo]

I think the only place you messed up was in expecting the players to like Kulanter as much as you do or feel grateful to him. Adventurers rarely like people with power over them, bonds chafe and all that.

As for what to do? Ask them where they want to go and then give them a card saying something like
"Kulanter's Contempt +1: Cloud Giant Disdain Rising" after the scrying spell has been made.

If the cloud giant is so short staffed he resorts to temporary enslavement for his weapon deliveries he is surely too busy to actually go out and deal with the party? It can always come up later, like when they need a favor.

Edit: what I mean to say, even if Kulanter won't let the slight go, it doesn't mean the consequences of it need to be in any way immediate.

Maybe you can also have a humanoid or two be grateful when they hear the local ogres won't be as well armed as they otherwise would be. Give the party something for the choice they made. :)

[InvisibleBison]

I don't think you're all that stuck. Yes, Lord Kolander will eventually learn that the PCs abandoned their mission, and he will definitely put them on his hit list. But how much effort will he put into killing them? He's a nobleman with a fairly large weapons-distribution business to manage - he's probably too busy to drop everything and hunt down one band of miscreants. More likely he'll just put a bounty on their heads and bad-mouth them to all his noble friends.

[MoiMagnus]

What do I do about this? Take revenge? that seems bad, because they would have no chance. But he also won't let the matter go. Kulanter is very vain and arrogant, and the PCs just proved to him, that they are just as honorless as other adventurers (at least from his personal point of view.).

You have to make sure the PCs understand that they are no match for Kulanter, you might possibly even want to talk about it OOC. There are 3 paths of actions for the PCs:
(1) Changing their mind and trying to get back the weapons and getting on Kulanter's good side. They won't chose that option.
(2) Finding some faction strong enough to protect them from Kulanter. If there is not already any in the universe, you might want to create such a rival faction to give them this option.
(3) Making it so it's too much of a hassle for Kulanter to track and punish them. The easiest is to run away to a nearby kingdom. It's a lot of work for you as a GM, so a lot of players won't assume that this is "possible" if you don't suggest it.



Also, did I mess up as a DM? I thought I introduced a cool NPC and elegantly helped the characters out of their predicament. but it didn't go at all as planned.

IMO, there is a good chance that the players are blaming you, the GM, the fact that they were captured (the encounter with Kobolds was possibly much harder than what they expected, or something like that). So when you introduced Kulanter, they likely assumed "oh, cool, that's how the GM is finding a way to compensate for his mistake". But as a consequence, they don't feel like they own anything to the character, as in their mind it was a payback for your mistake as a GM. Especially if its personality was not compatible with their character's personality, sometimes players will just hate the guts of a NPC you though was friendly. So when Kulanter is expecting something from them, they feel like he is acting as slaver, they don't feel like they own anything to him, and only "accepted" the mission because refusing was not an option (so they don't recognise it as an honest contract).

[Drogorn]

It sounds like your players handed you a juicy sub-plot. Now you have a wealthy and connected antagonist who has cause to dislike the pcs, and the means to track them. Cue putting a bounty on their heads. Now as GM, you have an excuse to harry them wherever they go, so they can't ever get comfortable.

[SimonMoon6]

I'd do something like this: the storm giant and his allies track down the PCs. The PCs have the option to fight an obviously more powerful enemy (again, make it super clear how screwed the PCs are if they fight)... or they can try to run away.

So, they either run away or die from stupidity. If they die from stupidity, fair enough.

If they run, something happens that separates them from the storm giant. Like, they run across a rickety bridge and it collapses under them. They fall and take a bunch of damage, but the storm giant can't reach them now. Possibly, they fall into a river and are swept away. Perhaps the giant assumes they are dead.

Or, as they run across the rickety bridge, the storm giant follows. The bridge can't handle his weight and falls apart, causing him to fall very far (and possibly get swept away by a river). The PCs can assume he's dead (but he could still survive and pursue them later, after they've level up a bunch). But now, the PCs are trapped on the other side of this bridge where there are new enemies to deal with.

Or, as the PCs flee into a cave, there's a cave collapse, separating the PCs from the giant. Now, the PCs have to try to find a way out of the cave, which could mean dealing with the cave inhabitants.

Or, the PCs run into a group of other sentient beings (ogres, trogolodytes, drow, whatever) who have enough power to save the PCs. But then the PCs will owe this group a favor (and perhaps if the PCs haven't learned their lesson, this new group will have to hunt down the PCs later).

[Mastikator]

I think you messed up by not TPKing them when they lost to the kobolds. First of all it doesn't make sense that the kobolds would spare them, they certainly weren't going to spare the kobolds. The kobolds gain nothing by letting the adventurers live.

Since they hate the storm giant have him be a reoccurring villain, first he could send some assassins. Then mock them with a sending spell. Then he destroys the village they're in, he could say something like "blood is the only language honorless pigs like you understand". Then level them up and have a showdown.

And next time they mess up don't bail them out. They are not entitled to be protected from the consequences of their actions. if_he_dies_he_dies.gif

[Sir-Carlos]

Hey guys, thank you so much for your replies. They are really helpful! I have a plan now, thanks again, for helping a new DM out :-)

[Kriegspiel]

Guess what quest will given to the next group or murder hobos he rescues....

[zlefin]

I'd talk to the players OOC about their dissatisfaction, and ask them what they'd like to do. Recognize there was a mistake and/or miscommunication about expectations of encounter difficulty (some groups assume any foe you're faced with can be defeated, because for some groups that's true). I'd lay out some options, including retconning away parts of the story, such as changing who frees them from the kobolds entirely.

I wouldn't have used that Kulanter fellow to rescue the PCs; it also seems odd for such a character to pay the ransom or whatever for the PCs. If he hates adventurers that much he should want them dead, not to free and employ them. Employees under duress are not reliable employees, a long-lived cloud giant should know that, and be mindful of the limits of his leverage; it can work, but you really need someone actively overseeing them.

Depending on the PCs backgrounds I might have had them ransomed by their local lord and/or family members. Then the PCs are indebted to someone they're supposed to respect and pay back; and who won't need to use any other source of leverage against them.

[martixy]

Ooh... this has potential.

You said he's arrogant. This is an exceptionally exploitable trait. And by exploitable I mean for drama. And also as a weakness. But mostly drama.

For example, make him hunt them for sport.

And as

Guess what quest will given to the next group or murder hobos he rescues....
said.

A really crafty DM would hold up a mirror to your party. Assemble another group that acts and behaves like your party and pit them against each other. You'd need good knowledge of your players' play styles to sell it. Depends on how long you've played with this group.

[SpyOne]

I think it is too early to be sure if you made a mistake, or even which mistake you made if you made one.

The players might well believe that the fight with the kobolds was one they were supposed to lose, as a way to introduce them to this cool NPC.
By rescuing them, you could have created the impression that their failure wasn't their fault.
I certainly understand the desire to not have a TPK in the very first session, but that's also kinda the perfect time for one. You can just say, "Well, that didn't go as expected," and instead of rolling new characters you can just call a do-over and restart from the beginning.

Another possibility is that this wasn't all the players' fault and the encounter with the kobolds was much harder than you meant it to be.

I agree with others above: (unless they get back to the delivery) they have made a powerful enemy but they probably aren't his top priority. And maybe an OOC conversation about that is a good idea.

[Easy e]

Sounds like a normal campaign is developing. They should twist and turn as they go, sometimes by design and sometimes by the player's choices. The GM should just be keeping one step ahead, keeping pace, or even falling behind to let the players lead the way a bit.

No mistakes were made, only choices were made. In an RPG, there is no "wrong choice". There are only choices that change the direction of the game.

Here, you have plenty of plot hooks:

1. Immediate confrontation with the BBEG
2. BBEG gets underlings to handle it
3. BBEG waits for a future moment for vengeance

At this point, I would just see what the Players want to do next, react to it, and keep your BBEG NPC in the shadows orchestrating things. Occasionally, he can show up to monologue or taunt; or force the Players to flee or some other action. However, mostly, you should deal with his underlings.

For example, how will the Ogres react to not getting their weapons? Do the locals know about the threat? Who sent them after the Kobolds in the first place, how do they react to the PC failures? There are a lot of ways you can go, and let this play out.