Murder in Baldur's Gate (spoilers!)

[Shiroiken]

I actually never considered it a singular murder, but rather the concept of murder (as espoused by Bhaal) in the Gate.

I ran it during Encounters, and everyone had a blast. I had to turn people away from my table because it was overflowing with players. I think the reason for this, was my playstyle and the break from the "traditional" railroading that previous Encounters had. I think your setup to the adventure is vital, as if you just drop the PCs in the Gate for the festival, they aren't going to feel very connected to anything.

My starting group had 2 PCs with the Soldier Background, so I had them be former Flaming Fists. One PC was a Charlatan who pretended to be a Noble, so I made sure his character (and him) were aware of the political structure, figuring correctly, that he'd want to get into politics. A Cleric was attempting to restore the Temple of Helm, so she got along well with the Flaming Fists (who used to venerate Helm) and Duke Silvershield, who is also a Priest of Gond. Then there was the Half Orc Barbarian Blacksmith, who wanted to start up a shop and wanted to help "the little guy" with the Rogue. They all felt that the city meant something to them, and each had a goal and motivation to help the city and at least one faction.

I think the secret to playing it is also to run it as an Event based adventure, where the PCs can interact (and change) events, but are not required for them to happen. I used Baulder's Mouth to let the PCs know about things that happened that they weren't present for, giving them an idea of the changes overtaking the city. If the PCs choose not to participate, I was ready for events to drop in their lap (such as being in the streets when the Riots break out).

I felt it was the best WotC adventure I've played in a long time, if not ever.

 

[DaveDash]

For DMs only:

The module starts with a murder. What I am seeing here is that players will expect to unravel a murder mystery. Only one problem: the module isn't about that. At all.

As far as I can see, the adventure simply assumes PCs will want to interact with the three factions and their leaders. As written the adventures assumes PCs will be content with day to day events, starting a crisis there, putting out a fire here. What if the adventurers does not settle for this?

Any initial promises to find out what's really going on are never followed up on - nowhere in the module do you get any support for when the PCs start asking the real questions: what is the history of these Bhaalspawn? What do the three leaders really know about the events that lead to the titular murder in Baldur's Gate? I expect them to want to follow up on leads, visit historians and temple archives, etc. They will want to talk to the main NPCs, not about Today's Sabotage, but about the significance of the Bhaalspawn, and then, how the cycle of murders can be stopped?

The module isn't adressing the elephant in the room at all. Namely, the likely fact some players will catch onto the fact that they're being played, and that they will want to do something about it.

Specifically, what actions can the PCs be expected to take in a more direct attempt to stop Bhaal? (I am not saying this needs to succeed. I am saying I would like more adventure material that let players work the case.)

I have recently picked up this module and plan on running it.

After reading it, I agree with your assessment. Its a bit weird for everyone (including the players) to just forget about the whole murder and get on with other things.

I'm thinking of changing the intro so It still happens, but its a background event. The characters are not present, but they hear about it. Ill tie their backgrounds to each of the three factions and have them be approached that way. Instead of starting out as heroes, they will gain notoriety through working for each faction.

I think this might work a lot better than having a disconnected hook.

 

[DaveDash]

[MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION] hey mate...

I actually found your blog on google when you ran this module for D&D encounters. Did you finish it, can you weigh in with any input? I read 4-5 sections on your blog I think, but couldn't find any more.

 

[MerricB]

[MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION] hey mate...

I actually found your blog on google when you ran this module for D&D encounters. Did you finish it, can you weigh in with any input? I read 4-5 sections on your blog I think, but couldn't find any more.

Yes, I finished it - though probably not blogging about it, just because, you know, Life Happened (tm).

I introduced a new thread about threats in the sewers, to provide adventuring action when the weekly events didn't interest the players, but the reaction of the players to the factional conflicts was fantastic. The group completely changed sides when they realised that the faction they were supporting was becoming too extreme, and - as I recall - ended up supporting Torlin against Ravengard and the thieves.

In retrospect, about week 2-3, I should have provided information that the investigation into Adrian's murder had discovered Adrian's past as a Bhaalspawn, and thus explaining the opening encounter. With that knowledge, the players think the influence of Bhaal is over, until they realise the rise of intolerance and violence shows there is still a supernatural grip on the city...

Cheers!

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

In retrospect, about week 2-3, I should have provided information that the investigation into Adrian's murder had discovered Adrian's past as a Bhaalspawn, and thus explaining the opening encounter. With that knowledge, the players think the influence of Bhaal is over, until they realise the rise of intolerance and violence shows there is still a supernatural grip on the city...

In the adventure, there is a section that says that any of the 3 faction leaders should be able to provide the PCs with the information and history of the Bhaalspawn so I explained it to the players so they weren't confused as to why the Duke of the city suddenly turned into a monster.

I've run the adventure twice and both times it went fairly simply. They were asked by the 3 faction leaders for meetings, during those meetings Silvershield and Ravenguard flat out blamed the attack on The Guild and we're 100% convinced there was no other answer despite protests from the PCs. They used that in order to convince the PCs that the murder itself wasn't important but that routing out the undesirable elements of the city and the underlying CAUSE of the attack was the important thing. Which is what led to the rest of the adventure.

The Guild on the other hand claimed that they weren't responsible, but once again the underlying cause for the attacks was the way the poor people were being treated by the city and the people in charge.

If done correctly, most players completely forget about the initial attack because they are too concerned with their new problems. It's only at the end of the adventure that it all kind of ties itself together. Though, I find the adventure isn't good at explaining how it is all tied together so both times I've stepped out of character and explained the basic gist of the plot to the players so they feel a little bit more satisfied at the end. Once it is explained to them most players go "OH! That makes perfect sense. Yeah, I didn't really think about it that way. That's kinda cool."

But, there's nothing in the adventure itself which explains to the PCs the whole link between the Bhaalspawn dying at the beginning and the resurrection of Bhaal and his influence over the entire city. Which can lead to a little big of a disconnect because to the players it just looks like some random guy died and then everyone in the city started going crazy and one of the faction leaders at the end rants about how he/she follows Bhaal. The idea that they actually caused the resurrection of Bhaal by killing the Bhaalspawn isn't something that's easy to get across. It might be worth having the Chosen of Bhaal yell something out about how their master thanks them for finally releasing the energy he needed to return or something like that.

 

[pukunui]

Thanks [MENTION=6786202]DaveDash[/MENTION] for reviving this thread. Our discussion in the Enhancing HotDQ thread about Baldur's Gate got me thinking about whether or not I could spice things up a bit by using some material - maybe even some encounters? - from this adventure while the PCs are waiting for the cultists to arrive.

Can anyone tell me if that would be feasible? I'm sure the campaign guide would be useful regardless, but what about the adventure itself? Are there any bits in it I could take and reskin slightly to fit in with HotDQ? Maybe I could have the cult assassinate a duke who was going to expose them or something?