I’m thinking they.’d most likely rebuild & improve their village...and the local lord would wonder where the money came from to do so. Might inquire- forcefully- about unpaid taxes, if he’s that kind of ruler.
D&D 5E No good deed goes unpunished
The would-be young adventurers has been my favorite idea so far.
Veldraneofsengir
First Post
And lets not forget, the original post was about a village of about 70 people. Even if the 1200gp was distributed evenly to every townfolk, that would result in about 17 GP per villager. No one is going to kill over that.
Lidgar
Gongfarmer
Where did the giants get the gold?
If that entity is still around, maybe their heard that the giants are dead, and want it back.
Perhaps it was pillaged from a tribe of orcs, and the clan chief now wants to raid the village.
Or maybe it was pillaged from a ruin, and that there is a curse on the gold, hence the demise of the giants. Now the townsfolk have inherited that curse...
If that entity is still around, maybe their heard that the giants are dead, and want it back.
Perhaps it was pillaged from a tribe of orcs, and the clan chief now wants to raid the village.
Or maybe it was pillaged from a ruin, and that there is a curse on the gold, hence the demise of the giants. Now the townsfolk have inherited that curse...
Thanks for all the replies.
I agree with much here, but first, a little more background.
I have four players, all on the neutral to good spectrum. Three of them are perfectly sane, nice, adventurers, out in the world, trying to do the right thing and make it a better place.
And then there's Edran. Edran is a half-elf rogue who is just about as off the wall as a person can get. He's immature, impulsive, chaotic, given to kleptomania, maybe slightly insane, and an all around pain in the behind to everybody around him. This is NOT to say that he's a problem character, although it probably sounds like that. All of the traits I've described are by design by the player, and I know he's got an overarching idea in mind for a gradual shift in maturity for Edran that we are just now (they just hit 11th level) starting to see. But even so, he is sometimes a bit of a trial. He's funny and wacky and generally very good at his jobs when he actually decides to do them, but he's got our cleric to the point of pulling his hair out. Edran has actually died three or four ties now. In fact, he's actually his own clone at this point (long story), and one of those deaths was laid on him by the party's benefactor, a very powerful wizardess who repeatedly warned him about pilfering from her until she finally just Power Word Killed him after he attempted to steal from her for the umpteenth time, leaving our cleric to Revivify him.
The point is, Edran keeps being brought back from the dead, and even in other situations that go sideways he manages to come out smelling like a rose. His battle cry is, I kid you not, "No consequences!"
Now then, one of Edran's more endearing traits is his inability to hold onto a gold piece for more than about five seconds, and usually what he does is give it away to the nearest begger. Which is fine. And in the case of the little village it was Edran who first handed over his share of the giant's loot. The other players, not wanting to be outdone, followed suit and handed over theirs as well.
So the point is, part of the motivation behind the destruction of this village is to show Edran that there are indeed consequences. And yes, I know there are plenty of other ways to do that, and they are being done. As a matter of fact, Edran is currently cut off from all resurrection magic from Clangeden until he does a *ahem* service for that god, which might get tricky since our cleric is a priest of Clangeden.
So, while yes, I've thought about the fact that the party might see the fate of the village as a reason to not do any more good deeds, I'm pretty sure the blame will rest squarely on Edran at the end of the day.
Plus, I am not a "DM as devil" sort. They've had a pretty good career so far of doing the right thing and not having the results be twisted. This will, in fact, be a first. Still, it's a valid concern, which is why I may temper the result to reflect some of the more middle-of-the-road ideas posted here.
On the other hand, sometimes things do not go as planned. I trust my players enough not to worry that they'll just never do another good deed based on one instance.
In retrospect, I agree that 1200gp is probably not enough gold to send a village of 70 into a murder spiral. Still, I'll give you my quick take on it.
I figure, 70 villagers, so a quick and simple breakdown might give me 25 adult men, 25 adult women, and 20 children and/or seniors. This being a typical medevil chauvinistic village, the women don't get a vote, so it comes down to a 25 way split. Or I could break it down into family units of, say, 10 to 15, which is a number that gives the 1200gp a little more weight. Still though, even if you split it ten ways that's only 120gp per family, and I agree that that's probably not enough to spell doom.
Or maybe it is.
Here's the thing: Given human nature, I imagine that kind of money causing some upset in the community. The elder has it all at this point, and maybe he wants to use it to buy that new windmill, but lots of the villagers want their own cut. So maybe the elder agrees with the public pressure and decides to divvy it out. But now the blacksmith demands a larger share since he's a skilled craftsman and thinks he's worth more than his farmer neighbor. And at least one family has lost a son to the giants, so they think they're entitled to a bit more. Same with the folk who lost livestock, although now they're arguing over what's worth more, a son or a cow? And then there's the elder's own family. Maybe his wife is whispering in his ear that's he's the bloody village elder around here and as such should get the lion's share. And then there's his drunken brother or layabout son, either of which might try to steal it all for themselves.
I guess what I'm saying is, greed is a bi*ch, and it only takes a few pints of ale and a discontented loudmouth to get folk riled to the point they do something stupid.
And by the way, the population of 70 is a number pulled out of a hat. I could adjust that downward to make the amount of gold more desirable.
Anyway, I'll think on it some more. I might temper it so that perhaps only one townsfolk gives into his greed and steals the gold, thereby shifting the anger from the PC's onto that villager. I also know that there's a local bandit gang, and if they should get wind of the cash they might visit hell upon the town. That would also shift the blame from the party, but it might make them a little more cautious about disrupting local economies willy nilly in the future.
Part of the lure of this scenario is to show real consequences of the PC's actions. In most cases the players do what they do and never give it a second thought. I think it would be interesting if they came back into this town, which they have now completely forgotten about, and see concrete evidence of their past actions.
Oh, and someone asked how long it's been since this all went down. It's been just about two months since the group passed though the village, and it might be another couple of weeks before they come back though it again.
I agree with much here, but first, a little more background.
I have four players, all on the neutral to good spectrum. Three of them are perfectly sane, nice, adventurers, out in the world, trying to do the right thing and make it a better place.
And then there's Edran. Edran is a half-elf rogue who is just about as off the wall as a person can get. He's immature, impulsive, chaotic, given to kleptomania, maybe slightly insane, and an all around pain in the behind to everybody around him. This is NOT to say that he's a problem character, although it probably sounds like that. All of the traits I've described are by design by the player, and I know he's got an overarching idea in mind for a gradual shift in maturity for Edran that we are just now (they just hit 11th level) starting to see. But even so, he is sometimes a bit of a trial. He's funny and wacky and generally very good at his jobs when he actually decides to do them, but he's got our cleric to the point of pulling his hair out. Edran has actually died three or four ties now. In fact, he's actually his own clone at this point (long story), and one of those deaths was laid on him by the party's benefactor, a very powerful wizardess who repeatedly warned him about pilfering from her until she finally just Power Word Killed him after he attempted to steal from her for the umpteenth time, leaving our cleric to Revivify him.
The point is, Edran keeps being brought back from the dead, and even in other situations that go sideways he manages to come out smelling like a rose. His battle cry is, I kid you not, "No consequences!"
Now then, one of Edran's more endearing traits is his inability to hold onto a gold piece for more than about five seconds, and usually what he does is give it away to the nearest begger. Which is fine. And in the case of the little village it was Edran who first handed over his share of the giant's loot. The other players, not wanting to be outdone, followed suit and handed over theirs as well.
So the point is, part of the motivation behind the destruction of this village is to show Edran that there are indeed consequences. And yes, I know there are plenty of other ways to do that, and they are being done. As a matter of fact, Edran is currently cut off from all resurrection magic from Clangeden until he does a *ahem* service for that god, which might get tricky since our cleric is a priest of Clangeden.
So, while yes, I've thought about the fact that the party might see the fate of the village as a reason to not do any more good deeds, I'm pretty sure the blame will rest squarely on Edran at the end of the day.
Plus, I am not a "DM as devil" sort. They've had a pretty good career so far of doing the right thing and not having the results be twisted. This will, in fact, be a first. Still, it's a valid concern, which is why I may temper the result to reflect some of the more middle-of-the-road ideas posted here.
On the other hand, sometimes things do not go as planned. I trust my players enough not to worry that they'll just never do another good deed based on one instance.
In retrospect, I agree that 1200gp is probably not enough gold to send a village of 70 into a murder spiral. Still, I'll give you my quick take on it.
I figure, 70 villagers, so a quick and simple breakdown might give me 25 adult men, 25 adult women, and 20 children and/or seniors. This being a typical medevil chauvinistic village, the women don't get a vote, so it comes down to a 25 way split. Or I could break it down into family units of, say, 10 to 15, which is a number that gives the 1200gp a little more weight. Still though, even if you split it ten ways that's only 120gp per family, and I agree that that's probably not enough to spell doom.
Or maybe it is.
Here's the thing: Given human nature, I imagine that kind of money causing some upset in the community. The elder has it all at this point, and maybe he wants to use it to buy that new windmill, but lots of the villagers want their own cut. So maybe the elder agrees with the public pressure and decides to divvy it out. But now the blacksmith demands a larger share since he's a skilled craftsman and thinks he's worth more than his farmer neighbor. And at least one family has lost a son to the giants, so they think they're entitled to a bit more. Same with the folk who lost livestock, although now they're arguing over what's worth more, a son or a cow? And then there's the elder's own family. Maybe his wife is whispering in his ear that's he's the bloody village elder around here and as such should get the lion's share. And then there's his drunken brother or layabout son, either of which might try to steal it all for themselves.
I guess what I'm saying is, greed is a bi*ch, and it only takes a few pints of ale and a discontented loudmouth to get folk riled to the point they do something stupid.
And by the way, the population of 70 is a number pulled out of a hat. I could adjust that downward to make the amount of gold more desirable.
Anyway, I'll think on it some more. I might temper it so that perhaps only one townsfolk gives into his greed and steals the gold, thereby shifting the anger from the PC's onto that villager. I also know that there's a local bandit gang, and if they should get wind of the cash they might visit hell upon the town. That would also shift the blame from the party, but it might make them a little more cautious about disrupting local economies willy nilly in the future.
Part of the lure of this scenario is to show real consequences of the PC's actions. In most cases the players do what they do and never give it a second thought. I think it would be interesting if they came back into this town, which they have now completely forgotten about, and see concrete evidence of their past actions.
Oh, and someone asked how long it's been since this all went down. It's been just about two months since the group passed though the village, and it might be another couple of weeks before they come back though it again.
Ed Laprade
First Post
I've told this story before, but it fits right in here. Our Heroes took care of some monsters for a small village (Sound familiar?) and one of them gave the townsfolk all the copper pieces he'd gotten as his cut from the loot. So another character gave them all the silver coins he'd gotten. Not to be outdone, yet another of them gave out all the GP he'd gotten. And the cycle continued until the villagers had pretty much all the loot the PCs had found. I don't remember how much it was, exactly, but it was in the tens of thousands of GP.
Some weeks later, Our Heroes heard rumors that Village X was now abandoned. What had happened? Had monsters or bandits heard about all that gold and killed everyone? Worried that they'd been the unwitting authors of the town's demise, they decided to investigate.
It turned out that the villagers had realized that their share would allow them to move to The Big City and live a life of relative luxury. (Or at least be able to long enough to get good paying jobs.) So they'd all just packed up and left for the Good Life!
Edit: Just read Cthulhu42s last post, and my story is even closer to his than I thought. Just more money involved.
Some weeks later, Our Heroes heard rumors that Village X was now abandoned. What had happened? Had monsters or bandits heard about all that gold and killed everyone? Worried that they'd been the unwitting authors of the town's demise, they decided to investigate.
It turned out that the villagers had realized that their share would allow them to move to The Big City and live a life of relative luxury. (Or at least be able to long enough to get good paying jobs.) So they'd all just packed up and left for the Good Life!
Edit: Just read Cthulhu42s last post, and my story is even closer to his than I thought. Just more money involved.
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People have killed over far less.
See Stephen King’s Needful Things.
Fanaelialae
Legend
Sure, but in a close-knit community where everyone is your neighbor, coworker, and relative? (Before you do, I'm sure that you or someone else could find an example where such a thing happened, but my point is that it would be very much the exception rather than the rule.)
You have to keep in mind that a medieval community is much different from the modern world. Here I can hop in a car and drive hundreds of miles in a few hours. I don't know any of my neighbors names (I moved recently, but nonetheless). I can fire up my computer and talk to someone who is on the other side of the planet.
In an average pseudo-medieval D&D setting, the typical peasant probably didn't travel more than a few miles from his birth place. The people in his village are folks he's known his entire life, and are likely the majority of folks he's ever going to know (unless it's a particularly busy town, but that's unlikely the case for a town of 70). Unless he has very serious psychological issues, those are not people he is going to harm, not even for significant gain.
Yes. And you’re right that such murders are rare, but murder is rare in general. But historically speaking, murder is rarer now than in past ages.
The how and why will always be very situationally dependent, though.
In a community such as you describe, the killing could occur because a wandering miscreant- a true murderhobo- saw the gold and took it by force, little realizing such wealth was all around him as he makes his getaway.
Or perhaps someone in the community incurred a debt the last time he went to sell his wares at the county market, and no one knows about it. But it is nearly due, and he hasn’t done so well lately. Desperation sets in...
A farmer’s well runs dry and he needs money to dig a new one- more than he expected, too, since his own tools have fallen into disrepair with lack of use, or the new spot to dig is in difficult, rocky terrain.
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