All PC dead, what to do?

[Olaf the Stout]

I've discovered and bought it thanks to EnWorld. I like this adventure very much.

Apart from the TPK that it's caused!

Olaf the Stout

 

[Len]

I'm not sure I'd want the players to ever be that paranoid. :\

It depends on whether the PCs had a reason to suspect that something was up. My group was attacked by a dozen goblin assassins at night once, but we knew there were assassins about so we kept watch - even though we were spending the night in a palace. I don't think we took any damage at all.

In another game recently, we were all sapped in our sleep and captured. We were on board our own ship and didn't think we were in any danger. The odds were heavily in the attackers' favour, but the idea was to capture us, not kill us.

So, if the DM dropped hints that there was danger, the players were careless. If not, then I agree with Crothian - it's no fun to live your whole life in combat mode.

 

[MadWand]

Here is what I would do:

Your 3 PC's have a 12th-level cleric sponsor. This sponsor wants his pet adventurers alive. It will cost him 15,000 gp to Raise them all. This is expensive, but affordable for someone of that level. After a few days, your PC's will wake from the dead (after being asked if they want to be raised by your cleric NPC's god), lose a level, and find they have lost much of their equipment due to theft. The cleric is also angry with them for having died and the loss of 15,000 gp. He asks them to find their murderer, and presents them with evidence gained from Divination, Commune, and local law enforcement efforts.

Meanwhile, the theif has taken all the loot she could carry. She would concentrate on items she could personally use (while keeping concealed, such as a chain shirt), weapons she could use (such as a scimitar), and other portable forms of wealth such as small magic items and gems. She was able to gain entrance to the inn undetected, and is likewise able to leave undetected. XP she gained from her kills of the PC's and further adventures from that point take her to 6th level -- the same as the PC's. She sells what eqipment she can't use on the black market, and perhaps buys a few items for herself that she might want. She becomes paranoid about possible repercussions from her crime, and goes into hiding. If she finds out that the PC's were Raised, she might even go on the run.

The PC's have to track her down, using the clues available. If and when they track down the assasin, she throws herself on their mercy, begging them to spare her life (she's not stupid, after all). She will tell them anything to stay alive. She tells them she was forced to assasinate them - perhaps a Big Bad held her family hostage. She offers to join their group, return the items she stole, and help them track down the magic items she sold (getting them back from their new owners is another adventure in itself), and also to help them track down the Big Bad that ordered her to do the killings. She offers to spend the rest of her life making up for her crimes, if only they will forgive her. She is quite honest about this offer.

If the PC's accept this offer, they have a new NPC adventurer and ally the same level as they are. They have a lead in on several new adventures, and a way to get back all their lost loot. If the PC's follow up on these new adventures, they will be able to make up the lost gold and XP from their deaths -- their cleric sponsor may want his 15,000 gp back! If they don't accept, the assassin either runs or fights, and due to her new levels and equipment, might give a good fight before being taken down.

 

[Cedric]

I'm not sure I'd want the players to ever be that paranoid. :\

Hehe, note the "or" in that sentence. I didn't mean they should take all of those steps...I more just meant that they should have taken some additional precautions, especially without really good locks.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Wow. I knew that encounter could prove surprisingly dangerous, but it never occurred to me she might take out a whole party. Then again, it's entirely possible that the groups I've run for--and for whom I've run similar encounters--are just more paranoid than most in terms of the precautions they take.

Sorry the encounter's caused you so many problems, Thomas. The way I see it, you have a few options for fixing things in the context of the adventure.

1) As someone else suggested, maybe the coup-de-grace was with a nonlethal weapon. If Junda felt she had a good chance of taking the whole party, it's certainly possible that she would try to keep them alive so Balthus could find out what they knew, or if they'd already found either the princess or the ring. The PCs could awaken tied up somewhere, and forced to find some means of escape, with a team of Balthus' agents about to arrive any moment.

2) You mentioned your PCs are the agents of a 12th-level bishop. Perhaps one of his other operatives finds them and raises them, or maybe Father Barclay learns who they work for, and he contacts the bishop to request aid, or at leats some scrolls of raise dead. The PCs are now weaker than they were, and they are further in-debt to the bishop and/or Father Barclay, but they can continue. In fact, you can use this as an additional plot point. Why did the bishop have them raised, instead of just using new operatives? Have the PCs already accomplished something of vital import? Does it have to do with the Oinodaemon's curse on Listonshire? Or is there some other goal--either here in this adventure, or later in your campaign--that the bishop or Father Barclay has in mind?

3) It's possible to continue the adventure with a brand new group of PCs. Maybe now, in addition to everything else they have to accomplish, part of their job is to find the bodies of the old PCs and use more speak with dead scrolls to learn what happened to them, and what (if anything) they'd already accomplished in their efforts. Not every group would enjoy this sort of thing, so it might not be right for you and your players, but it could be interesting.

 

[Cedric]

On a side note (and I'm sure some people will disagree with me), I roll listen checks in situations like that for the players (instead of having them roll their own listen checks).

If I need to fudge something to prevent a TPK, I will and can do so without the players realizing I had fudged something.

But I'm not sure I would in this case if they hadn't taken any extra security precautions. It's a good lesson for a group to learn. Inn's are more safe, but they aren't completely safe.

 

[Fieari]

Others have offered very good ideas on what to do now, but I just wanted to comment of the fairness of the situation in the first place. I think the party deserved to die. Reasonable precautions could have been taken, but they weren't. I'm not talking paranoia here, I'm talking about reasonable precautions.

The chances of this happening when all the party members share the same room is much less likely. The listen checks are compounded, see, instead of isolated. Everyone makes the listen check as the assassin enters the room. Everyone makes a listen check as the first party member is coup-de-grac'd. And it goes down the line. If they share mattresses too, then the struggle at the last moment for life WILL wake at least the bedmate.

Why didn't they magically alarm the room? I mean, forget sticking a chair under the door handle, my players NEVER sleep without either A: A guard, or B: An alarm spell up. In or outside of civilization. This isn't an extreme level of paranoia, this is just a group of people that know they've pissed off guys in high places...

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Others have offered very good ideas on what to do now, but I just wanted to comment of the fairness of the situation in the first place. I think the party deserved to die. Reasonable precautions could have been taken, but they weren't. I'm not talking paranoia here, I'm talking about reasonable precautions.

The chances of this happening when all the party members share the same room is much less likely. The listen checks are compounded, see, instead of isolated. Everyone makes the listen check as the assassin enters the room. Everyone makes a listen check as the first party member is coup-de-grac'd. And it goes down the line. If they share mattresses too, then the struggle at the last moment for life WILL wake at least the bedmate.

Why didn't they magically alarm the room? I mean, forget sticking a chair under the door handle, my players NEVER sleep without either A: A guard, or B: An alarm spell up. In or outside of civilization. This isn't an extreme level of paranoia, this is just a group of people that know they've pissed off guys in high places...

Different groups do things differently I guess. On a few occasions some members of my group have barricaded their rooms before going to sleep at night. At the same time they were doing this, other party memebers staying at the same inn just went to bed without doing anything.

Also, the group may not have known at the time that they had pissed anyone off. I guess only Thomas can answer that question.

Olaf the Stout

 

[jdrakeh]

Why no chance to hear the lock being picked or the doors being opened? It seems like it was set up to be a TPK. What was the NPC's move silent bonus?

It might have been and, if it was, this illustrates perfectly the problem I often mention about using every adventure module exactly as written. Some adventure modules are written very poorly and, if you use them exactly as written, chances are that your game will be very poor.

 

[Thomas Percy]

The chances of this happening when all the party members share the same room is much less likely.

There are single rooms only in the adventure. It's quite strange by medieval standards, so my inkeeper proposed the PCs expensive single or cheap common dormitory. They chose single rooms.

Why didn't they magically alarm the room? I mean, forget sticking a chair under the door handle

I think, from this day until the end of the world it will be first thing my PC will do.

This isn't an extreme level of paranoia, this is just a group of people that know they've pissed off guys in high places...

Len answered perfectly instead of me:

It depends on whether the PCs had a reason to suspect that something was up. .

The situation was like that: the PCs were looking for missen child in big area. They knew Balthus (dangerous bounty hunter, leader of thieves guild from bishop's city) is looking for this child too. Imho this doesn't meens you should suspect to be assassinated by Balthus.

If and when they track down the assasin, she throws herself on their mercy, begging them to spare her life (she's not stupid, after all).
If the PC's accept this offer, they have a new NPC adventurer and ally the same level as they are.

Thanks for creative help. I guess my PCs never accept evil assassin in their ranks.

1) As someone else suggested, maybe the coup-de-grace was with a nonlethal weapon. If Junda felt she had a good chance of taking the whole party, it's certainly possible that she would try to keep them alive so Balthus could find out what they knew

2) maybe Father Barclay learns who they work for, and he contacts the bishop to request aid, or at leats some scrolls of raise dead.

These are two solutions I will propose to my players.

By the way, my players were quite happy with DoL until this moment, they fought coffer corpses and hangman tree, they found Darnelle's body with scrying spell.

It might have been and, if it was, this illustrates perfectly the problem I often mention about using every adventure module exactly as written. Some adventure modules are written very poorly and, if you use them exactly as written, chances are that your game will be very poor.

This module is imho designed in very interesting way, eg. nearly all monsters have CR lower than PC, but they have so good tactic, they are dangerous. Imho massacre in the inn was coincident of 1. very dangerous encounter designed by Ari, 2. my mistake (I don't knew coup de grace rules), 3. my players lack of paranoia.