J.Quondam
CR 1/8
I'm working on an adventure involving a long-lost Fauxgyptian tomb that also serves as a prison for an immortal being. It was intentially designed (by it's original builders, I mean) to lead graverobbers to a fake BBEG and false treasure, so that the imprisoned baddie would remain undiscovered.
There are a number of hooks to get the PCs to the site, including a few based on old lore about the tomb. If PCs end up following one of those lore-based leads (and therefore likely tasked with defeating a particular baddie and/or recovering a particular artifact), it's possible that they'll end up delving, defeating the false boss and grabbing the fake loot... only to discover after the fact that they've fallen for a big red herring.
I've tried to make clear the differentiation between the real and the fake boss/treasure. The map includes at least three ways (via secret doors, traps, abandoned excavations) to get to the real BBEG. There are also lots of clues lying around (eg, written descriptions of MacGuffin, interative traps incorporating hints, pictures of the real BBEG on the walls, etc) that should tip off attentive players. The "real deals" and the red herrings don't actually look or behave much alike, except superficially. Finally, there are even a couple NPCs who can suggest the correct path, if encountered.
The questions are:
(1) How do players (or How would you) react to finishing an adventure only to find they've been deceived?
(2) Is a big red herring like this "okay," as long as players been provided sufficient clues? (Any suggestions to ensure crystal clear clues; or pointers to published adventures using major red herring would be helpful, too.)
(3) What are some ideas for handling the fallout from this: abandoning the quest, returning to the site (if PCs decide to follow up), etc?
As always, thanks in advance for any advice!
.
There are a number of hooks to get the PCs to the site, including a few based on old lore about the tomb. If PCs end up following one of those lore-based leads (and therefore likely tasked with defeating a particular baddie and/or recovering a particular artifact), it's possible that they'll end up delving, defeating the false boss and grabbing the fake loot... only to discover after the fact that they've fallen for a big red herring.
I've tried to make clear the differentiation between the real and the fake boss/treasure. The map includes at least three ways (via secret doors, traps, abandoned excavations) to get to the real BBEG. There are also lots of clues lying around (eg, written descriptions of MacGuffin, interative traps incorporating hints, pictures of the real BBEG on the walls, etc) that should tip off attentive players. The "real deals" and the red herrings don't actually look or behave much alike, except superficially. Finally, there are even a couple NPCs who can suggest the correct path, if encountered.
The questions are:
(1) How do players (or How would you) react to finishing an adventure only to find they've been deceived?
(2) Is a big red herring like this "okay," as long as players been provided sufficient clues? (Any suggestions to ensure crystal clear clues; or pointers to published adventures using major red herring would be helpful, too.)
(3) What are some ideas for handling the fallout from this: abandoning the quest, returning to the site (if PCs decide to follow up), etc?
As always, thanks in advance for any advice!
.